“Handing over of the buildings by the contractor will be in stages, scheduled for August 10, August 20 and mid-September. The Management team is now in place and support staff have been recruited to deliver a new experience in student living and to welcome the first batch of 576 students at 138 Student Living in early August 2015,” John Lee, Chairman of the company advised shareholders recently in the release of their June quarter financials.
Based on the completion the units, the company looks set to earn around $80 million in profit in its first full year of operating, well above a loss of $71 million that was projected in the prospectus. By year 2 profits should be hitting the $120 million mark or 30 cents per share, on the assumption that the exchange rate will remain relatively stable versus the US dollar.
Phase 1 of the Construction commenced September 2014 and is being financed by a joint $1.35B loan from Jamaica Mortgage Bank (JMB) and National Commercial Bank (NCB) and from proceeds of the public share issue of more than $500 million raised. Long term funding, by way of a bond, to repay the construction loan received from Jamaica Mortgage Bank and National Commercial Bank has been secured and will be paid on the completion of the buildings, Lee stated.
Construction of phase 2 consisting of another 576 rooms is scheduled to commence in September 2015 and will come into operation in August 2016. Negotiations have commenced with the preferred contractor which should lead to a final construction contract.
The company has signed a new concession agreement with UWI Mona for the restoration and
138 Student Living, artist impression of a block.
The company incurred cost on construction of just over $1 billion up to June that was partially financed by $617 million in loans.
The company has not yet commenced operation, as such there is no income statement as all cost is capitalized as a part of the construction expenditure.
Profit or loss| The company had projected rental income of $335 million based on the exchange rate being at $122 by September 2015 and J$131 by September 2016. Nevertheless, rental income is more likely to be in the region of $320 million, assuming all rooms are rented for 12 months. On the plus side, the cost of electricity that was projected at $67 million may come in under that amount with the fall in the cost of electricity since last year. Interest cost was projected at $270 million but that seems to be far over the actual figure that is likely to be incurred and charged against income in the year to September 2015. Actual interest plus preference dividend chargeable against income in 2016 is likely to be the order of $100 million based on the amount borrowed to complete phase 1 and the issued preference shares of $168 million.
[…] 138 Student Living traded 12.5 million shares valued at $66.25 million Friday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with the stock ending at an all-time high of $5.30 after rising by 20 cents in a trading session that saw over 300 points being cut from the main market indices. The number of securities changing hands remained high with 44 changing hands on Friday, in all market segments. At the close, 16 securities in the combined markets gained and 13 declined. Five stocks closed at 52 weeks’ highs and two traded at intraday high as 17,493,274 units valued at $112,767,164 changed hands in all markets. The junior market accounted for 1,058,983 units changed hands, valued at $6,002,466. The JSE Market Index fell by 318.51 points to 156,706.56 the all Jamaica Composite Index closed with a loss of 355.96 points to end at 174,084.71 and the JSE combined index declined 246.21 points to close at 168,047.15. IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reached an elevated level indicating several rising prices ahead with reading of only 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers. In trading, Barita Investments traded 10,000 shares and lost $1.97 to close at $4.03, Berger Paints closed at $3.60 as 107,349 units traded, Cable and Wireless ended with 205,751 units changing hands to close with a gain of 2 cents at $1.51, Caribbean Cement fell $2.50 to close at $22, with 223,713 shares changing hands. Carreras rose $3.05 in trading 15,369 shares at $63.05, for a new 52 weeks’ high, Ciboney lost 2 cents in trading 502,380 shares at 24 cents, Gleaner traded 15,000 units at a loss of 28 cents at $2.40, Grace Kennedy gained $3.50 and closed at $84, with 89,111 units changing hands. Jamaica Broilers closed at $13.50 with 260,019 shares changing hands. Jamaica Producers ended with 8,270 shares trading, to close at $31, Jamaica Stock Exchange rose 4 cents to close at $19.70 while trading 109,420 shares, JMMB Group traded 108,518 units to end with a loss of 1 cent at $11. Kingston Wharves traded 6,992 units to close at $11. Mayberry Investments traded 48,924 shares and lost 17 cents to close at $4.70. National Commercial Bank ended with a gain of $1.80 at $43 with 76,733 units changing hands, Pan Jamaican Investments closed at $96 with 4,382 shares trading. Radio Jamaica traded 405,020 shares but fell 60 cents to $4.20, Sagicor Group rose by $1.25 to close at $23.25 with 240,545 units changing hands, Scotia Group had 286,042 shares changing hands to close at $30.41, Supreme Ventures traded at an intraday 52 weeks’ high of $6 but ended at $5.50 with 983,022 units changing hands. Proven Investments ordinary share traded 113,047 units at 22 US cents, down by 0.99 US cents on Friday and Proven Investments preference share traded 104,100 units at $5. […]