The discovery and spread of Covid-19 in Jamaica in March 2020 led to the closing of the country’s borders and resulted in a significant scaling down of business operations. The most affected were the tourism sector and the closure of hotels. The result is that thousands of people were out of a job and had either little or no income.
Christopher Levy – Jamaica Broilers President and Chief Executive.
Gross domestic production fell sharply, affecting many companies, including most listed companies. Jamaica Broilers was one of those companies to feel the effect of the economic dislocation. Two years on, the company has bounced back with record revenues and profit even as the local economy is still not a maximum capacity during the fiscal year to April 2022.
Revenue rose sharply for the group for the year to April this year to $75.72 billion, up 33 percent from the $57 billion delivered in 2021. Cost of sales rose faster than revenues by 36.3 percent, to $57.7 billion from $42.3 billion in 2021, resulting in Gross Profit increasing 23 percent to $18 billion from $14.6 billion in 2021. Other income delivered $480 million, down 43 percent on the $848 million in 2021.
Revenues for the Jamaican operations jumped sharply by 33 percent to $45 billion from $34 billion in 2021, while the United States segment comprising eggs and poultry meat surged 41 percent to $29 billion from $21 billion in 2021. The Haitian market suffered a big blow, with sales nosediving 44 percent to $1.3 billion from $2.4 billion in 2021 as that country continues to suffer from economic and social instability. That segment results worsened to a loss of $365 million, from a loss of just $7 million in 2021. Up to the January quarter, the results showed a loss of just $11 million from revenues of $1.1 billion, but the company made an impairment provision of $141 million for this operation which is charged to cost of sales and administration and other expenses. Overall the group wrote down the value of their investment in Haiti by $904 million to just $308 million.
The group’s overall improved performance in Jamaica comes against continued economic dislocation. Data up to March shows the country’s economy growing 8 percent above the prior year but still 4 percent lower than the 2020 fiscal year. The company is a major distributor to the hotel sector with about 15 to 20 percent of local sales, but that industry was down around 30 percent compared to the 2020 fiscal year. The group will benefit from increased demand for its products, with the tourist industry back to 2019 levels in the June quarter.
Profit before taxation rose by 28 percent to $4.1 billion from $3.2 billion and net profit rose 35 percent to $3.2 billion from $2.4 billion in 2021 after taxation of $1 billion for fiscal 2022 rose 24 percent from $807 million in 2021. The company enjoyed onetime finance income of $592,756, the result of debt forgiveness and is, therefore, non-recurring. Excluding this one off income, profits would be up by less than $450 million to $2.7 billion for an increase of 16 percent instead of the 35 percent it grew by and earnings per share would be $2.70 instead of $3.11 reported.
Distribution costs rose a subdued 12 percent to $2.3 billion from just over $2 billion in 2021, while administration and other expenses climbed 23 percent to $11.6 billion from $9.4 billion. Depreciation and amortisation costs rose to $2.1 billion from $1.9 billion in 2021 and Finance costs jumped 32 percent to $1.1 billion, up from $859 million in the previous year.
Jamaica Broilers brand
Gross cash flow brought in $6 billion and $2.2 billion after working capital increase. Addition to fixed and intangible assets consumed $3.5 billion. Net borrowings of $3 billion funded the cash deficit created by purchasing assets. Long term borrowings stood at $10.3 billion and short term at $13.5 billion for a total debt financing of $23.8 billion, moved up from $21 billion in 2021. The group ended with a cash surplus of $556 million after paying dividends of $463 million. At the end of April, shareholders’ equity stood at $21 billion, up from $18.7 billion in 2021. Current assets ended the year at $40 billion, including inventories and biological assets of $31 billion, receivables of $5.4 million, cash and bank balances of $3.8 million. Current liabilities ended the period at $27 billion. Net current assets ended the period at $13 billion.
IC Insider.com forecasts $4.50 per share for the fiscal year ending April 2023, with a PE of 6 times the current year’s earnings based on the price of $27 the stock traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market. Net asset value is $9.88, with the stock selling at a premium of 173 percent or 2.7 times book value.
ICInsider.com accords the stock the convicted BUY RATED accreditation based on the immediate growth prospects and the focus on increasing investment in the operation for long term development and growth. The growth is enhanced by increased borrowings, which grew from $18 billion in 2020 and a rise in shareholders’ equity invested in the business.
