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.
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.
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.
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.
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 latest results follow a moderate rise in profits in 2022 and 2023 and a 42 percent jump in 2021.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The company generated $2.2 billion in cash inflows, bringing first quarter balance to $6.3 billion.
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.