Blow out profit for Iron Rock

Insurance revenues jumped 40 percent to $1.4 billion and net profit surged 150 percent to $84 million at Iron Rock Insurance for 2023 as insurance results climbed from $63 million to $120 and Investments delivered slightly higher gains of $79 million rising from $64 million in 2022, the company’s long-delayed audited financial statements show.

Operating expenses rose 14.4 percent from $104 million to $119 million as the company generated 39 cents in earnings per share for the year, up from 16 cents in 2022. ICInsider.com had a forecast of  32 cents.
At the end of 2023, shareholders’ equity stood at $748 million. Investments was $630 million, with reinsurance assets of $427 million and Insurance liabilities of $777 million.
The company improved its performance in the March quarter this year, with revenues rising by 29 percent to $401 million. Return on investments rose to $29 from $16 million in 2023. Other operating expenses climbed from $30 million to $37 million. A profit of $5.5 was realised, up from a $12 million loss in 2023, with earnings per share of 3 cents.
At the end of 2023, shareholders’ equity rose to $756 million. Investments stood at $719 million, with reinsurance assets of $312 million and Insurance liabilities of $735 million.
Iron Rock generated positive cash flows of $45 million in the quarter and $254 million for the 2023 fiscal year.
The stock was in the ICTOP10 Junior Market listing but was dropped following the suspension of trading but with projections of 55 cents per share for 2024 it will most likely be back, subject to stock price by week end.
The stock rose 12 cents on Tuesday to $2.30, with just three offers amounting to 115,000 shares, with 7,004 units at $3.30 up to $4.36.
With projected earnings of 55 cents per share, the PE ratio at the last price is just 4.2 times earnings, well below the market average of 12.4.

Profit surged 144% at the Lab

Net Profit for the half year was $49.4 million, up a b 144 percent above the $20 million generated in 2023, at Limners and Bards for the quarter profit rose 71 percent to $23 million from $13.6 million for the same period in 2023.
The improved profit flowed from reduced costs and better margins as revenues fell sharply in the Media segment, with a $100 million reduction to $206 million. Segment profit fell from $43.5 million to $31.9 million. Media was not the only area of contraction, production had a minor drop in revenues to $127 million from $130 in 2023 but delivered a $13 million fall in profit contribution to $50.6 million from $63 million in 2023. The agency segment saw profit contribution jumping $98 million from $86 million in 2023 with revenues rising from $102 million to $113 million.
For the second quarter, total revenues for the company fell 23 percent from $291 million to $226 million and declined 17 percent to $446 million from $539 million in 2023 for the half year.
Although gross profit fell in both periods, to $91.4 in the latest quarter from $100 million in 2023, down 8.6 percent and declined by 6 percent from $193 million for the six months to $180 million. Gross margin grew, with direct costs declining faster than revenues for half of the year, down 23.5 percent to $265 million from $347 million and by 29.4 in the quarter to $135 million from $191 million.
Administrative expenses fell 17 percent to $69 million in the quarter from $84 million in 2023 and declined 18 percent to $138 million in the half year from $169 million in 2023.
Selling and distribution cost expenses declined in the half year and second quarter by 36 percent to $966,245 in the half million from $1.5 million and by xxx percent in the quarter to $484,477 from $810,997 in 2023. Finance cost declined in the quarter, to $2.6 million from $3.5 million in 2023 and from $6.9 million to $5.2 million for the six months. Finance Income rose from $922,872 to $5.33 million in the quarter and for the six months, it moved from $4.5 million to $8.4 million.
Current assets ended the period at $864 million and Current liabilities at of $298 million. The company has cash and bank balances of $559 million, up from $438 million in 2023.
At the end of April, shareholders’ equity amounts to $647 million with loans payable at $106 million.
Earnings per share for the quarter was two cents and 5 cents for the year to date. IC Insider.com computation projects earnings of 10 cents per share for the fiscal year ending August 2024, with a PE of 16 times the current year’s earnings based on the price of $1.56 the stock traded at on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market. Net asset value ended the period at $0.68 with the stock selling at 3 times book value.
The company in its quarterly report to shareholders, indicates that they have ventured into the risky business of film production. The first production ‘Jenna In Law’, was officially selected to screen at the 2024 Essence Film Festival this summer in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Profit continues higher at Scotia Group

Scotia Group had another financially successful quarter ending April this year, with profit climbing a solid 31 percent to $5.4 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.74, up from $4.1 billion in 2023, with EPS of $1.32. For the six months to April, profit rose 14 percent to $8.54 billion with earnings per share (EPS) of $2.74, from a profit of $7.49 billion in 2023 and EPS of $2.41.

Scotia Group head quarters in Kingston.

Total comprehensive income climbed to $6.65 billion in the quarter from $4.79 billion in 2023. For the half year, it fell to $2.76 billion from $3.6 billion in 2023 as other comprehensive income suffered a loss of $5.78 billion in the 2024 period and $3.86 billion in 2023 as a result of an $11 billion increase in defined benefit obligations in 2024 and $9.3 billion in 2023.
Total revenues rose 20 percent for the quarter, to $16.9 billion from $14.1 billion and climbed a solid 18 percent for the year to date, to $33.3 billion from $28.3 billion in 2023. Interest income rose 18 percent in the April quarter to $11.7 billion from $9.9 billion in 2023 and 20.4 percent for the six months to $23.3 billion from $19.4 billion.
The critical and the single most important area of the group’s operation of lending helped to deliver a 17.6 percent increase in a net interest income of $11.24 billion in the second quarter of this year, from $9.56 billion in the prior year and, it rose 18.4 percent to $22.35 billion in the six months from $18.87 billion in the 2023 half year.
According to the group directors, “Our loan portfolio increased by $35.5 billion or 14.4 percent compared to April 2023, with loans net of allowances for credit losses increasing to $282.3 billion. Our core loan book continues to perform well with mortgages increasing year over year by 24 percent, consumer loans by 13 percent, credit cards by 15 percent and commercial loans by 8 percent.” Loans grew 2.2 percent in the January quarter over October, with the pace picking up to 2.25 percent in the April quarter over January, this year, for an annualized growth rate of 10 percent.
Deposits by the public increased by 6 percent or $27 billion to $464 billion. Investment securities increased marginally to $156.5 billion from $151.6 billion last year.
Net income from foreign currency trading, fees, commission and other income went up 22 percent from $3.6 billion to $4.4 billion in the April quarter and rose 14 percent from $7.7 billion in the half year in 2023 to $8.4 billion in the current year.
Insurance activities delivered profits of $530 million for the latest quarter, up from $493 million in the previous year. For the half year, it moved to $1.05 billion, from $1.03 billion in the comparative period in 2023. Foreign currency trading gains amount to $2.23 billion in the latest quarter compared with $1.94 billion in 2023 and for the year to date, $4.56 billion in the six months to April versus $4 billion in 2023.
Credit impairment losses jumped sharply to $1 billion in the April quarter from $665 million last year to $2 billion in the half year, compared with $1.75 billion in 2023.
Segment results show Retail Banking with revenues of $11.06 billion compared with $10.1 billion in 2023 and delivered segment profit of $1.6 billion versus $2.1 billion in 2023. Corporate and Commercial banking had a 13 percent growth in third party revenues to $7.9 billion and net segment results of $7.2 billion compared with revenues of $6.9 billion in 2023 as net results surged sharply over the $5.2 billion in 2023. Treasury generated revenues of $7.7 billion up from $5.8 billion with a net position of $1.13 billion in 2024 compared with $1.03 billion in the prior year.
Investment Management Services generated revenues of $1.5 billion and a net result of $780 million in 2024, with revenues of $1.56 billion in 2023 and a net outturn of $806 million in 2023. Insurance services had a mild increase in revenues to $2.08 billion in 2024 as net results slipped to $2.05 billion, compared with revenues of $2.45 billion in 2023 and net segment results of $2.15 billion.
Salaries and staff benefits rose 12.8 percent to $2.96 billion from $2.63 billion in 2023 and for the half year, it rose by 13 percent from $5.23 billion to $5.9 billion. 

Scotia Group traded at a $58 on Friday.

Other operating expenses fell marginally from $3.28 billion to $3.23 billion in the quarter and increased slightly in the nine months to $6.7 billion from $6.55 billion in the previous year. Overall, total operating expenses moved from $6.57 billion in the second quarter last year to $6.78 billion. For the six months to April, it moved by 7 percent to $15.46 billion from $14.4 billion in 2023.
Taxation on profit amounted to $2.38 billion in the April quarter up from $1.89 billion in 2023 and it rose 15 percent to $4.47 billion in the half year from $3.89 billion in 2023.
Shareholders’ equity ended the period at $127 billion, up from $108 billion at the end of March 2023.
IC Insider.com computation projects earnings of $6.50 to $7 per share for the fiscal year ending October 2024, with a PE of 6.5 times the current year’s earnings based on the price of $44.41 the stock traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Net asset value ended the period at $4.78 with the stock selling at xxx book value.
The company declared a dividend of 40 cents which in line with payment in  April versus 35 cents in July 2023.

428% dividend hike jolts stock price

Caribbean Assurance Brokers announced a 428 percent jump in dividends to 14.11 cents from just 2.67 cents paid last year. This year’s dividend is payable on September 16, with an ex-dividend date of August 15 and the announcement pushed the stock up 22 percent in a day and 73 percent for the year to date.
The dividend yields 4.8 percent based on Thursday’s closing price of $3.15 and four percent based on Friday’s closing of $3.83, almost twice the junior Market average of 2 percent.
The increase follows a jump in profits for 2023 to $123 million or 47 cents per share after a charge of $17 million or 6.5 cents per share for doubtful debt which was reversed in the first quarter to March this year with a profit of just $3 million after the credit impairment loss was revered and compares with a profit of $17 million in 2023.  Net profit for 2022 was $78 million or 30 cents per share.
Also announcing dividend payment is Salada Foods with an interim dividend of 6.4 cents per stock unit, payable on July 4, 2024, with an ex-dividend date is June 14.

Dolphin Cove the dividend king

The dividend yield on the Junior market listed Dolphin Cove is 10 percent based on Wednesday’s early traded price of $24 and dividends of $2.40 payable since October last year.

Dolphin Cove price paying 60 cents dividend in June.

Dolphin’s shareholders have much more than the high yield to cheer about, with the stock gaining 68 percent in value over the past twelve months in a market that has delivered no increase during the same period. The company reported profit declining from US$1.57 million for the first quarter last year to $1.38 million in the March 2024 quarter with revenues of US$4.9 million up from US$4.85 million with operational expenses jumping by US$300,000. For the year to December 2024, the company reported sales of US$17 million from $15 million in 2023. It generated a profit of US$4.2 million before booking a cost of US$1.13 million in penalties and interest on GCT relating to an earlier period compared with $2.97 million in 2022
The returns for Dolphin are far ahead of a 7 percent yield for Mailpac but in line with Carreras at 10 percent yield and Transjamaican Highway at 6 percent. Scotia Group another high dividend payer is currently 4 percent but that is expected to rise as the year progresses and dividends are increased with rising profit and a return to the traditional pay out ratio of more than 40 percent of profit.
The real virtue of Dolphin over Carreras is that the former continues to record growth while the latter has has little or no growth for years.

The aroma of rising profit

The wonderful aroma of increased profit brewed by Salada Foods ended with an impressive 43 percent jump in earnings in the March quarter, to $68 million from $48 million in 2023. For the six months to March, profit rose by a more sedate but still impressive 31 percent to $99 million from $75 million in 2023.
The latest results follow a moderate rise in profits in 2022 and 2023 and a 42 percent jump in 2021.
Contributing to the gains in profits was an 8 percent rise in sales revenues for the quarter, to $427 million from $394 million and a 6 percent pop for the year to date, to $727 million from $688 million in 2024.
Gross profit margin slipped to 68 percent from 69 percent in both the second quarter and for the half year, effectively, pushing operating profit 13 percent in the quarter to $138 million from $122 million and 6 percent for the year to date to $229 million from $216 million in 2023.
Increased revenues were not the sole contributor to the solid rise in profits. Administrative expenses fell 11 percent to $36 million in the quarter and slipped two percent in the six months to $74 million. Marketing and sales expenses dropped by a sizeable 29 percent to $17 million for the second quarter and declined by 28 percent for the six months to $32 million. Finance cost jumped to $6 million in the quarter, from $1.4 million in 2023 and from $3.5 million to $7.6 million for the six months.
The operations generated gross cash flows of $189 million after working capital spend and ended with $95 million after paying $62 million in dividends.

Current assets ended the period at $1.2 billion inclusive of trade and other receivables of $305 million, cash, investments and bank balances of $492 million, inventories climbed to $417 million from $374 million at the end of September last year. Current liabilities ended the period at $291 million. Net current assets closed the period at $923 million.
At the end of March, this year, shareholders’ equity amounted to $1.13 billion, with no outstanding loans.
Earnings per share for the quarter was 7 cents and 10 cents for the year to date. IC Insider.com computation projects earnings of 22 cents per share for the fiscal year ending September 2024, with a PE of 16 times the current year’s earnings based on the price of $3.76 the stock traded at on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market. The PE ratio compares with an average of the market of 12.9. Net asset value ended the period at $1.09 with the stock selling at 3.44 times book value.

Profit surged 89% at NCB Group

Profit surged 89 percent at NCB Financial for the six months to March from a combination of higher revenues and reduced costs in some areas, driving profit 74 percent higher in the March quarter to $5.6 billion compared with the same period in 2023, with $3.2 billion and surged for the half year to March with $8.7 billion, from $4.6 billion in 2023.
Net interest income rose to $9.4 billion in the second quarter of this year, from $8.2 billion in the prior year’s second quarter and for the six months, jumped 15.6 percent to $18.85 billion from $16.3 in the 2023 half previous half year. Net fee and Commission income went from $5.3 billion in the $6 billion in March 2024 quarter and from $11 billion in the half year in 2023 to 12.5 billion in the current year.
Credit impairment losses jumped sharply to $1.9 billion in the March quarter from $1.2 billion last year to $2.77 billion in the half year, compared with $2.4 billion in 2023. Dividend income amounted to just $171 million in the March 2024 quarter, down from $488 million in the previous year. The half year is essentially flat, at $1.26 million. Insurance activities delivered profits of $11 billion for the latest quarter, up from $9.3 billion in the previous year. For the half year it surged to $25.2 billion from $16.7 billion in the comparative period in 2023.
Operating expenses slipped to $21.76 billion in the March 2023 quarter from $22.8 billion the previous year and for the half year rose to $47.9 billion from $45.8 billion in 2023. The major contributing factor to cost savings is staff costs, which fell from $14.3 billion in the 2023 March quarter to $13 billion this year and dropped to $26.6 billion for the six months, from $27.5 billion in 2023.
A loss of $3.4 billion is reflected in other comprehensive income in the March 2024 quarter compared with a surplus of $5.7 billion, with the six month period ending up with a loss of $1.2 billion compared to a surplus of $28.3 billion in 2023, effective reducing the quarterly overall profit to $1.4 billion compared to $5.2 billion in 2023 and for six months $7.7 billion versus $20.9 billion in the previous year that is attributable to the NCB Group shareholders.
While most eyes are on the profit statements, the results shown by the various segments are of critical import as they show details of revenues and profit for each segment, enabling investors to have greater insight into the overall results.
Results for the six months show the Consumer and Small Business Enterprise segment generating revenues from outsiders of $21.5 billion, up 17.5 percent from $18.3 billion in 2023 and net segment income of $7 billion in 2024, up 23 percent versus $5.7 billion in 2023. Payment Services delivered a solid 85 percent rise in revenues to $17.2 billion in 2024 with a net position of $4.5 billion in the 2024 half year up from $9.3 billion in revenues in 2023, with net results of $3.4 billion, before internally allocated costs.
Corporate and Commercial banking had a 7 percent growth in revenues to $8 billion and net segment results of $4 billion compared with revenues of $7.5 billion in 2023 as net results surged sharply over $1.18 billion in 2023. Treasury and Correspondent banking generated revenues of $11.77 billion up from $10.58 billion with a net position of $6.9 billion in 2024 compared with $5 billion. Wealth, Asset Management and Investment Banking generated a 38 percent growth in revenues of $14.85 billion and a net position of just $1.17 billion in 2024, with revenues of $10.7 billion in 2023 and net results of $3.5 billion. Life and Health Insurance and Pension Fund management produced a 32 percent increase in revenues to $58.58 billion in 2024 as net results surged to $15.5 billion compared with revenues of $44.4 billion in 2023 with net segment results of $5.76 billion while General Insurance accounted for revenues of $37.7 billion, up 27 percent over 2023 and net results of $3 billion compared with 2023, with revenues of $29.7 billion and profit of $4.3 billion.

NCB declared a dividend of 50 cents to be paid in June.

Loans grew moderately by 6 percent from $595 billion in March 2023 to $633 billion in 2024 while investment securities moved by 9 percent from $763 billion to $833 billion this year. Customer deposits grew 6 percent to $755 billion. Shareholders’ equity ended the period at 160 billion, up from $138 billion at the end of March 2023. Earnings per share for NCB Financial grew from $1.39 to $2.36 for the quarter and from $1.99 in the 2023 half year to $3.68. ICInsider.com projects earnings for the full year to September at $8.50 with a PE of 7.5 well below the market average of 12.6 at the last traded price of $64 on Friday. NCB is selling at a premium to Scotia Group with a lower PE of 6 times 2024 earnings and pays a dividend that provides a much better yield of 4 percent versus 3 percent for NCB. With NCB relative overvaluation compared with its nearest competitor, the current APO is going to provide added supply of shares on the market that is likely pressure the stock price for some time.
Shareholders on record on May 27 are set to receive a dividend of 50 cents per share payable on June 10.

Berger surges into healthy Q1 profit

There is a huge about-turn in profit at Berger Paints with $48 million generated in the first quarter of March 2024 compared with a loss of $35 million in the first quarter of 2023, following a 7.6 percent climb in sales to $772 million from $718 million in 2023.
Cost control and reduction in some cases played a major role in the turnaround in the operations, with the company reporting a small loss for the fiscal year 2022 and a much bigger $218 million loss in 2023 after a tax credit of $37 million.
The most major development is a sharp fall in the cost of material used in the production to facilitate sales with a drop to 43 percent from 57 percent with costs of $330 million in the latest quarter down from $407 million in 2023, a fall of 19 percent while other manufacturing costs coming in 12 percent lower to $14 million.
Staff cost rose 12 percent to $154 million from $138 million in 2023 while Other operating expenses jumped 17 percent to $212 million from $180 million in 2023. Depreciation rose 16 percent to $22 million from $19 million in 2023, with fixed assets net of depreciation jumping to $480 million from $289 million at the end of March 2023.
The operations generated Gross cash flow brought in $80 million, netting out at $69 million after working capital and capital spending.

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Current assets ended the period at $1.7 billion inclusive of trade and other receivables of $595 million, cash and bank balances of $224 million. Inventories were reduced by $200 million to $800 over the twelve months to March this year and receivables by $170 million over the same period to $600 million.
Current liabilities ended the period at $1.17 billion. Net current assets ended at $500 million.
At the end of March, shareholders’ equity amounts to $1.1 billion with little borrowings.
Earnings per share for the quarter was 23 cents. IC Insider.com computation projects earnings of $1.60 per share for the fiscal year ending December 2023, with a PE of 3.4 times the current year’s earnings based on the price of $5.50 the stock traded at on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market. Net asset value ended the period at $5.12 with the stock selling at a mere 7 percent over book value.

Caribbean Cement blockbuster Q1 profits

Caribbean Cement reported blockbuster profits in the first quarter to March this year from an increase of nearly 12 percent in revenues of $7.6 billion versus $6.8 billion in 2023 with profits jumping by 546 percent to $1.9 billion compared to just $289 million in last year first quarter.
Helping with the surge in profits was a sharp drop in the cost of sales from $5.5 billion to just $4 billion in the current quarter as the cost of raw materials fell sharply in the first quarter from $1.3 billion to $505 million.
Total operating expenses remained fairly stable at $673 million in 2024 versus $670 million last year with other operating expenses coming out at $311 million compared with $319 million in the previous year. Taxation jumped to $701 million versus a tax credit of $133 million last year.
Earnings per share ended at $2.27 for the quarter, up sharply from just 34 cents in the 2023 first quarter with full year’s earnings likely to exceed $8 per share.
The company generated $2.2 billion in cash inflows, bringing first quarter balance to $6.3 billion.
Shareholders’ equity climbed to $26 billion from $20 billion at the end of March 2023 and there is just a small amount of long term debt on the books.
Caribbean Cement stock is trading currently around $58 at a PE of just over 7 times this year’s earnings compared with an average of 13 for the Main Market. The company reported that the 30 percent expansion is expected to be completed in 2025. That will allowed for increased sales on the local and the overseas markets and making the stock an attractive investment for the immediate future and longer term.

Profits continue to send mixed signals

Early profit results for the first 2024 quarter show some positives, with the Montego Bay-based Knutsford Express reporting b revenue growth and profit for the quarter and the nine months to February, followed by positive results for AMG Packaging and Express Catering, but there were also some disappointing ones.

Knutsford Express

The directors of Knutsford Express stated that “strong and steady demand for our courier services complemented our passenger services have combined in delivering year to date profit of $268 million, up 27.1 percent from $211 million at the end of February 2023. We, therefore, recorded a 20.9 percent growth in our total revenue in this quarter moving to $565 million from $468 million in the comparative period in 2023. Similarly, our nine-month year-to-date revenue has increased by 19.5 percent from $1,281 million in 2023 to $1,530 million in 2024.”
Innovative Energy, formerly Ciboney reported no revenues in the February quarter and a loss of $4.4 million with the year to date, ending with $500,000 in income and a loss of $7.8 million.
AMG Packaging grew profit by 79 percent to $32 million from $18 million in 2023, better than the 72 percent rise in the first quarter. For the six months to February, profit was up by 79 percent to $84 million from $47 million in 2023.
Revenues climbed from US$6 million to US$7 million at Express Catering, up 17.6 percent in the quarter and increased by 23 percent from US$15 million to US$18.7 million, delivering a profit of US$2 million for the year to date and US$1 million for the latest quarter, compared with US$1.9 million for the nine months in 2023 and $1.15 million in the February 2023 quarter. Ian Dear, the company’s CEO confirmed that added cost in the third quarter would have been associated with new restaurants opened close to the quarter as such, some of the cost would not be fully covered by revenues.
The revenue at Margaritaville (Turks) rose just 5 percent to US$5.25 million for the current year, compared to US$4.98 million for the same period last year, with a net profit of US$521,909, earnings per share of 0.773 US cents compared with the similar period of 2023, with a net profit of US$1.18 million which includes non-recurring gains of US$658,000 for EPS of 1.749 US cents.
For the third quarter, revenues fell to US$1.9 million from US$2.2 million in 2023, delivering a profit of US$222,174 versus US$725,000 in 2023 including one time income of US$340,000.
Sygnus Real Estate Finance fell by 43 percent in the February quarter from $67 million in 2023 to $44 million in 2024. For six months revenues reached $88 million down 38 percent from $142 million in the prior year. The company incurred a loss of $187 million in the 2024 second quarter 45 percent worse than the $129 million and for the six months, a loss of $320 million was incurred marginally more than $302 million in 2023.

Paramount Trading is expanding into Chlorine and bleach processing.

Paramount Trading reported reduced revenues and profit for the third quarter and the nine months. Revenues in the February quarter declined 8.5 percent from $438 million in 2023 to $401 million in 2024. For the nine months, revenues fell 23 percent from $1.63 billion down to $1.266 billion with profits coming in at 40 percent lower at $18 million for the quarter from $30 million in 2023 and 44 percent to $100 million for the nine months of February this year from $179 million in the previous year.
One On One Educational Services reported revenues of $57 million in the February quarter down 12 percent from $73 million in 2023 and fell 27 percent to $111 million for the six months to February from $153 million in 2023.
A loss of $20 million million was incurred in the February quarter down from a profit of $6 million in 2023 and a loss of $41 million for the six months, down from a profit of $17 million in 2023 for the 6 months.