Profit dropped sharply at the Junior Market distributor, Paramount Trading for the November 2023 half year to $82 million from $149 million in 2022 and plunged from $65 million in the November quarter 2022 to just $25 million in the latest quarter.
Operating revenues declined by 27 percent to $439 million in the November quarter from $601 million in the similar quarter in 2022 and for the half year, revenues fell by 28 percent from $1.2 billion to just $865 million. The company generated nearly $15 million in other operating income for the quarter versus a loss of $3, million in 2022, with the half year bringing in $33 million up from $27 million in 2022.
The company’s management attributes the reduction in revenues and profits, “primarily in the food grade and SIKA-construction segments that resulted from a one-off supply challenge and the expiration of a large building project respectively”. They also indicate that “the technical grade segment which accounted for 52% of total revenue performed one percent above the prior year. The lubricant segment also performed well with a 10 percent growth in revenues.”
Gross profit declined at a slower pace than the fall in revenues with the November quarter suffering a 19 percent fall from $202 million in 2022 to $164 million in 2023 and for the half year it declined 17 percent from $435 million down to $363 million. At the same time, administrative, selling and distribution costs rose marginally by 2.5 percent in the November quarter to $120 million from $117 million in 2022 and for the half year it declined 1.2 percent from $242 million down to $239 million.
Profit resulted in 1.6 cents earnings per share for the quarter down from 4.2 cents in the similar period in 2022 and 5.3 cents for the six months to November, a fall from 9.6 cents in the prior year.
Profit plunges at Paramount
Profit rise 23% in Q2 at Knutsford Express
Profit at Jamaica’s intra-island luxury bus service, Knutsford Express, rose 23 percent for the quarter ending November 2023 to $72 million up from $59, million in 2022 and 10 percent for the half year to $158 million from $143 million in 2022.
Revenues for the second quarter and the half year were up 19 percent respectively to $473 million from $398 million for the November 2022 quarter and for the half year, to $965 million from $830 million in 2022.
Profit resulted in 14 cents earnings per share for the quarter and 32 cents for the six months to November. ICInsider.com projects 85 cents for the year to May 2024.
The company generated net cash from operating activities of $225 million up from $173 million in 2022 but ended with cash outflows of $32 million that arose from payments of dividends, purchase of property and loan repayment, reduced the funds at the end of May of $87 million to $55 million at the end of November.
64% jump in Q1 profit at AMG
Profit at AMG Packaging climbed for the first quarter to November by a solid 64 percent to $39.86 million from $24.34 million in 2022, with profits for the quarter representing 44 percent of 2023 full year earnings of $89 million.
Much of the profit improvement arose from increased efficiency in the operations, following the introduction of new machinery.
The company, producers of cardboard carton boxes, reported revenues rising by just 7 percent to $272.5 million from $254 million in 2022. Manufacturing costs fell from $181 million to $171 million, with the cost of goods dropping by $14 million to $171 million and resulting in gross profit jumping 38 percent to $102 million from $73 million in 2022.
Pretax profit jumped 85 percent to $54.4 million, from $29.3 million but corporate taxes nearly tripled to $14.5 million from $5 million in 2022.
Image Plus Q2 profits jump 126% in Q2
Image Plus Consultants reported a 126 percent surge in profit to $61.4 million before tax for the quarter to November 2024, from $27.2 million in 2022. For the nine months to November 2023, profit before tax dropped to $164 million by 9 percent compared to 2023 with $180 million.
The results emanated from a 27 percent jump in revenues to $315 million from $248 million for the same period the prior year. For the year to date revenues rose 8 percent to $869 million $803 million in 2022. Growth in revenues for the nine months to November was negatively affected by downtime of one of the CT units in Kingston in the previous quarter.
Profit resulted in earnings per share of 5 cents for the quarter and 13 cents for the nine months to November.
Big changes occurred in the Financial statement with Fixed assets jumping from #319 million at the end of February last year to $1.15 billion while cash funds dropped from $592 million over the same period to just $15 million and borrowings jumped to $364 million from $113 million as of February.
AS Bryden jumps to record high of $45
AS Bryden, the Trinidad and Tobago based company that is majority owned by the Jamaican based Seprod, surged $8.50 after trading 25,001 shares and closed at a record high of $45.
The stock is up 100 percent since listing in late 2023 at $22.50 in early November last year, but is up 55 percent from the first trade taking place of $29 for investors on the first day of trading.
At the close on Friday, there were only two offers to sell the stock with one for 4,999 units at $45 and 1,260 at $75. Bids were not plentiful with only 10,200 at $36 to buy with a few units above.
In short, the stock is scarce but investors should be careful as the PE ratio is close to 26 in a market with an average around 13.
Jamaica’s NIR jumps US$151M to record high
Jamaica’s net international reserves jumped US$150.6 million in December to end 2023 at a record US$4.75 billion, with the report indicating that the amount represents 34.8 weeks of imports, data released by Bank Jamaica is shows.
For the calendar year the NIR increased by US$770 million in 2023, that compares with a slight US$21 million fall in 2022 from 2021.
Profit rises 14% at GraceKennedy
Revenues at GraceKennedy rose 9.7 percent to $117.8 billion, over $10.4 billion earned for the nine months to September over the same period in 2022. Profit before tax reached $8.8 billion, up by J$1.1 billion, or a 14 percent increase, while net profit after tax rose 14.2 percent to $6.4 billion.
Profit attributable to stockholders hit $6 billion, a 15.3 percent increase over the corresponding period last year. Earnings per stock unit for the period were $6.02, compared to $5.23 in 2022.
Earnings per share for the full year ending in December should hit the $8 market, with PE ratio of 9 based on Thursday last traded price of $71.50.
The company stated that “GK’s food business demonstrated strong performance, with notable growth in revenue and profitability for the period. GraceKennedy Financial Group also delivered a positive performance, driven by strong top-line growth”.
A dividend of $0.65 per stock unit has been announced and will be payable on December 15, 2023, totalling approximately $643 million. This is the fourth and final dividend payment by GK for 2023, bringing GK’s year-to-date total dividend pay-out to approximately J$2.15 billion.
Seprod stock trades at $90
Seprod traded just 2,605 shares up to a 52 weeks’ high of $90 in Wednesday’s morning trading session on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Trading is suspended as the price breached the circuit breaker, as there was limited selling of the stock.
Buying in the stocks could be better, with 43,579 units on the bid at $75 and 9,539 units between $75.01 and $80.90. Sellers range from 9,000 units at $80.90, 9,400 shares at $80.95, 2,989 units at $90 and 3,000 shares at $150.
As trading in the stock is suspended, more sellers and buyers could come to the market and change the day’s outcome.
At $90, the stock traded at a PE ratio of 18 times this year’s earnings. The significant publicly known development is the pending listing of Seprod subsidiary, AS Bryden and Sons, on the Jamaica Stock Exchange later this week. That will not affect the result of the group as it will neither increase nor decrease its earnings. It will not even change the group’s reported net asset value.
Seprod traded 1,459,106 shares in Tuesday trading session and closed at $79.99 with a gain of $6.97.