A sharp turnaround in the fortunes of advertising agency, Limners and Bards was manifested in the July quarter, with revenues and profit rising above those in the same period in 2022 and represents a reversal of the trend of declines during the first two quarter of the year with a 31 percent revenues decline with profit plunging 83 percent for the half year.
Kimala Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of The Lab.
According to Managing Director, Kimala Bennett, the improvement in the third quarter came from the acquisition of new clients and other initiatives pursued by them, some of which will bear fruit in the next fiscal year.
The third quarter performance while very positive was not enough to erase the reduction in the top and bottom line of the company, racked up in the period to April.
Revenues came in at $913 million for the nine months to July, down 18 percent from the $1.1 billion generated in a similar period in 2022 but revenues bounced a solid 17 percent from $320 million in 2022 July quarter to $374 million in the latest quarter ending July 2023. Profit after tax for the nine months to July, amounts to $57 million, down sharply by 60 percent from $144 million reported for the similar period in 2022 but profit for the quarter jumped 76 percent from $21 million in 2022 to just under $37 million in the current year.
Finance income jumped from just under $3 million for the nine months in 2022 to $8.7 million in the current year and nearly doubled from 2.5 million in the July 2022 quarter to $4.1 million in their latest quarter.
Although revenues are down during the current year, administrative costs rose 13 percent from $227 million to $256 million, but in the quarter administrative expenses moved up by 9 percent from $80 million to $87 million. Finance costs declined from $13 million to $8.7 million for the nine months and dropped sharply from $6 million in the July 2022 quarter to just $1.7 million.
Segment performance shows the company reporting results in three segments, Production, Media and Agency. During the July quarter, the Media segment reflected revenue growth of 34 percent to $225 million, Agency was up 44 percent to $50 million but Production declined by 22 percent to $99. Gross profit jumped by 83 percent to $56 million for the Production, Media climbed 16 percent to $30 million and Agency slipped 26 percent from $49 million to $36 million. Year to date revenues are down compared to 2022 by 35 percent in Production to $229 million. Media is down 11 percent to $532 million and Agency slipped 6 percent to $152 million.
The stock trades below its 50 day moving average since March. Projected earnings = 8 cents for the fiscal year with a PE of 21.
The fourth quarter of the fiscal year is usually the company’s weakest, however, the rebound in revenues in the third quarter reflecting improvement in production and advertising revenues compared to the fiscal half year, suggests that the improved performance in the third quarter could carry somewhat into the final quarter and record improvement in revenues and profits.
Accordingly, ICInsider.com forecast is for earnings of $0.08 per share for the current year ending October and $0.20 for the next fiscal year, compared with 6 cents per share for the nine months to July this year and 4 cents per share for the July quarter.
The stock traded on Monday at $1.72, with a PE ratio of 21 times ICInsider.com’s latest projected earnings of $0.08 per share with the value at the higher end of the market, which currently averages PE of 10.3 times earnings.
The company generated gross cash flows of $75 million and net cash provided by operating activities was just under $31 million with net cash flows of just $2 million after paying dividends of $34 million and ended the year with cash and cash equivalent of $355 million.
The company’s finances remain b with current assets of $787 million and current liabilities of $244 million given the net working capital of $543 million, borrowings of $100 million with shareholders’ equity of $598 million.
, 175,984 shares were traded, for US$39,421 compared to 580,017 units at US$10,197 on Friday.
Proven Investments dipped 1 cent to 13.5 US cents in trading 160,775 stocks Sterling Investments shed 0.02 of a cent in closing at 1.9 US cents after investors traded 1,729 stock units, Sygnus Credit Investments ended at 9.07 US cents, with 1,276 units crossing the exchange, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share ended at 10 US cents with an exchange of 974 stock units and Transjamaican Highway remained at 1.69 US cents with shareholders swapping 937 stocks.
A total of 14,060,598 shares were traded for $91,699,748 compared to 3,872,550 units at $72,059,401 on Friday.
The Main Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 12.2, the JSE Main and USD Market PE ratios are based on the last traded prices and earnings forecasts by ICInsider.com for companies with the financial year ending up to August 2024.
NCB Financial advanced 40 cents to end at $65.50 with investors transferring 103,724 stocks, Pan Jamaica rallied 75 cents in closing at $45.75, with 35,700 units clearing the market, Proven Investments skidded $4.20 to $20 after a transfer of 3,396 stock units. Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 30 cents and ended at $8.30 in an exchange of 112 stock units, Scotia Group declined $2 to close at $32 with traders dealing in 265,169 stocks and Seprod dipped 39 cents to end at $69.40 after 2,428 units passed through the market.
Jamaica Public Service 7% climbed $8.78 and ended at $53.07 after trading 197 units and 138 Student Living preference share lost $24.70 to close at $80.30, with 4,300 shares crossing the market.
Investors traded 7,109,987 shares for $15,074,419 compared with 6,672,237 units at $13,058,494 on Friday.
At the close, the Junior Market Index fell 20.18 points to conclude trading at 3,789.41.
Future Energy Source fell 15 cents to end at $3.30 with investors dealing in 134,078 units. Indies Pharma advanced 14 cents to $2.90 in an exchange of 5,209 stock units, Iron Rock Insurance dropped 20 cents to close trading at $2 with investors swapping 50 stocks, Jamaican Teas lost 7 cents to close at $2 with an exchange of 59,546 stock units. Lasco Manufacturing dipped 11 cents in closing at $5.20 as investors exchanged 500,460 units, Main Event declined 23 cents to $14.23 after 2,266 shares crossed the market, Medical Disposables shed 39 cents and ended at at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.81, with 5,020 shares crossing the exchange.
Tropical Battery skidded 10 cents to end at $1.90, with 3,000 stock units changing hands and tTech declined 13 cents to close at $2.35 after a transfer of 87,848 units.
The JSE Combined Market Index rose 3,102.28 points to close at 329,355.29, the All Jamaican Composite Index climbed 755.20 points to close at 344,391.47, the JSE Main Index jumped 3,527.99 points to settle at 315,805.28, the Junior Market Index shed 20.18 points to settle at 3,789.41, while the JSE USD Market Index rose 3.40 points to finish at 257.66.
The market’s PE ratio, the most popular measure used to determine the value of stocks ended at 19.9 on 2022-23 earnings and 10.8 times those for 2023-24 at the close of trading. ICInsider.com PE ratio chart and the more detailed daily report charts provide investors with regularly updated information to help decision-making.
The net asset value of each company is reported as a guide to assess the value of stocks based on this measure quickly. The chart also shows daily changes in stock prices and the percentage year to date price movement based on the last traded prices.
The IPO attracted over 3,600 new subscribers and brings the total number of ordinary shares listed on the exchange to 101, pushing the number of securities listed to 149, a release from the Jamaica Stock Exchange stated.
The Main Market had just two stocks with notable price changes this past week, with 
The PE of the Junior Market Top 10 sits at 5.2 just half of the market at 10.4. There are 10 stocks or 26 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 29, averaging 19 that are well above the market’s average. The top half of the market has an average PE of 15, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, and projected to rise by 288 percent to May 2024.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market but not always. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
Overall, 580,017 shares were traded, for US$10,197 up from 73,572 units at US$2,495 on Thursday.
Proven Investments fell 0.25 of one cent in closing at 14.5 US cents with stakeholders exchanging 4,029 units, Sterling Investments lost 0.03 of a cent and ended at 1.92 US cents with a transfer of 21,145 stocks. Sygnus Credit Investments dropped 0.03 of a cent to close at 9.07 US cents with an exchange of 558 units, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share rallied 1.5 cents to 10 US cents with investors dealing in 106 stocks and Transjamaican Highway popped 0.06 of a cent in closing at 1.69 US cents in switching ownership of 553,682 shares.
Overall, 3,872,550 shares were traded for $72,059,401 up from 6,606,269 units at $40,160,944 on Thursday.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 10 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
Kingston Wharves skidded $3.72 to close at a multiyear low of $24 with stakeholders exchanging 45,945 stocks. Massy Holdings dipped 23 cents to end at $104.17 with traders dealing in 178 shares, Mayberry Investments shed 81 cents to $7.10 after a transfer of 18,129 stocks, Pan Jamaica increased $3.90 in closing at $45 with 230,694 stock units crossing the market, Sagicor Group climbed 80 cents in closing at $44.60 with investors transferring 15,345 units. Sagicor Real Estate Fund dipped 34 cents to close at $8, with 20,000 shares changing hands, Scotia Group popped 50 cents and ended at $34 in trading 92,228 stocks and Supreme Ventures gained 50 cents to end at $27.50 after exchanging 19,296 units.
In the preference segment, JMMB Group 7.25% preference share advanced 23 cents to $1.90 after an exchange of 544 stock units and 138 Student Living preference share jumped $11.52 and ended at $105 as investors exchanged 114 units.
