Blue Power profit jumped 55%

Sales at Blue Power for the half year of its 2019 fiscal year to October, increased 13 percent to $862 million from $761 million for the same period in 2017, while sales for the second quarter to October were up nearly 12 percent to $426 million from $381 million for the same period in 2017.
Profits for the six months grew 55 percent to $87 million, from $56 million in the same period last year. For the second quarter profit after tax jumped 52 percent to $26.6 million from $17.5 million in 2017 in spite of picking up foreign exchange losses in the current period. Earnings per stock rose from 10 cents to 15.4 cents for the half year.
Lumber Depot sales rose 9 percent from $544 million to $592 million and the Blue Power division increased 25 percent from $217 million to $270 million for the six months
The Lumber Depot contributed $38 million before tax compared to $32 million in 2017 while Soap Division jumped to $61 million from $2 million in 2017.
Net finance cost was $9.5 million compared to $2.7 million for the quarter and for the six months it was a net inflow of $13 million in 2018 and was flat for the 2017 period.
For the half year, “exports sales of soap accounted for 24 percent of overall soap sales,” Noel Dawes, Managing Director told shareholders, in a report accompanying the financials. He further stated that “sales in the Caribbean market continue to be brisk as greater interest, acceptance and satisfaction of our product range materialize. The increase in export sales over the same quarter in the previous year was 64 percent from $47 million to $77 million.”
The company should earn around 30 cents per share for the current fiscal year and close to 40 cents for the next fiscal year ending April 2020. The stock trades at $5.45 at a PE ratio of 18 times estimated current year’s earnings.
Blue Power has investments and cash funds amounting to $247 million, with current assets of $655 million versus current liabilities of just $131 million and shareholders equity of $839 million.