Carreras recorded moderate growth of 6 percent in the December quarter last year with profit after tax of $851 million from $800 million in the similar period in 2014, but the report issued by the company on the Stock Exchange has the September 2014 quarterly as the comparative December figures.
For the nine months to December, profits rose 16 percent to $2.27 billion from $1.97 billion.
Revenues grew for the nine months by 8 percent to $9.3 billion, up from $8.67 billion, while revenues grew 7 percent for the quarter from $3.3 billion to $3.55 billion.
Apart from the improvement in revenues which helped to improve profits, administrative cost were lower in the quarter, falling to $332 million from $512 million and for the nine months to $1 billion from $1.08 billion while Distribution and marketing cost rose moderately in the nine months to $512 million but the quarterly figure jumped from only $76 million to $245 million in 2015.
Cash funds stood at $3 billion but $1.1 billion is due to be paid for corporation taxes but shareholders’ capital $1.98 billion which is down from $3.1 billion at March 2015.
Earnings per share came in at $4.68 for the nine months and $1.86 for the quarter with full year’s earnings heading for $6.70 per share net asset value turns out at $4.05. The stock last traded at $66 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday for a PE of 10.
The company will be paying an interim dividend of $1.80 per share to shareholders on March 17 and brings the total dividend in the last twelve months to $8.94.
Carreras profit up but report wrong
Major recovery at General Accident
General Accident
In the December quarter, the company reported a huge increase in its net profit of 189 percent to $185.9 million, an increase of $64.4 million.
Gross written premiums grew by 21 percent to $6.1 billion in 2015, from $5 billion in 2014 for the full year and for the last quarter, $664 million versus $555 million in 2014. Net premiums ended at $1.19 billion for the year compared with $1.07 billion in 2014 and for the December quarter, $288 million versus $258 million. Commission and other Income fell to $410 million from $424 million in 2014 and is up in the December quarter, to $137 million from $115 million. Investments income grew marginally to $178 million, from $160 million for the year and to $51.6 million from $43 million in the 2014 quarter.
In 2015, the Company’s claims expense, increased marginally by 3 percent to $699 million versus $679 million in 2014 and for the December 2015 quarter it fell to $108 million from $162 million in the 2014 quarter. Notwithstanding higher claims, underwriting profit grew to $107 million compared to $101 million in 2014 and $129 million in the December quarter versus a mere $12 million in 2014.
Commission expenses grew to $224 million for the year from $183 million and to $88 million for the quarter from $90 million. Management Expenses amounted to $451 million for the year while in 2014 it was $442 million, for the quarter $125 million was incurred and in the 2014 quarter $117 million.
Total shareholders’ equity stood at $1.77 billion up from $1.57 billion in 2014. The return on average equity based on the reported profit is 18 percent but including unrealised investments gains its 22 percent.
The stock traded on the junior market at $2.12 on Thursday at a PE ratio of 7.9 which is one of the lowest within the sector and therefore has room to record gains.
Tissue paper to push AMG sales
Sales at AMG Packaging fell in the November quarter but profit jumped sharply as raw material input cost declined, pushing gross profit from $34.3 million in 2014 to $51.5 million while net profit rose to $28.8 million for the quarter, up a strong 87 percent over the $15.5 million 2014.
Sales fell slightly from $151.5 million to $149.3 million but with the new paper tissue plant likely to be fully on stream in March, sales could start to rise quickly again.
Administrative and other costs were held in check very well, with some falling below the amounts incurred in 2014 while the company incurred $5.9 million in cost relating to the new paper tissue plant operation.
The company indicates that change in product mix helped in the reduction of sales and seems to have pushed up profit margins. “Changes in product mix played a major role in reducing volumes. During the year, we were able to negotiate discounted prices for cash payments of raw materials” Managing director Michael Chin informed IC Insider. Going forward “we are still targeting the import market, as well as increasing our clients’ product base” Chin further stated.
The new paper tissue operation seems poised to deliver further growth with indication that profit margins could be as much as 100 percent. Information obtained by IC Insider suggests that at this early stage, the toilet tissue is well received by the market, with the prices being very competitive. The company management stated that the output will be sold through by third party distributor.
Earnings per share ended at 28 cents u from 15 cents in 2014. IC Insider expects earnings for the full year to be around $2 per share with profit coming from the new operations. The performance of profit for the quarter and expected new business encouraged investor to push the stock price to a high of $21.50 with a nearly a 200 percent gain for the year.
The company closed the quarter with cash flows from operating activities amounted to $32 million for the year versus $19 million in 2014 and ended with cash funds of $87 million, up from $33 million in 2014. The company has equity of $406 million and borrowings of $146 million.
Lasco Manufacturing profit jumps
Bottle heating machine at Lasco Manufacturing.
Profit at Lacso Manufacturing before tax jumped 79 percent to $764 million for the nine months ended December 2015, this compares with $426.3 million for the same period in 2014, while profit for the quarter increased 69 percent over the same period in 2014 to $267 million before provision of $35 million of corporate taxation.
The strong improvement flowed from 45 percent jump in revenue for the nine months from $4.83 billion, for an increase of $1.5 billion or over prior year’s $3.33 billion. Revenue for the quarter rose by a slightly slower 39 percent from $1.25 billion in 2014 to $1.74 billion in 2015. Gross profit for the nine months rose from $892 million in 2014 to $1.60 billion in 2015, an increase of $703 million or 79 percent in line with the increased profit. For the quarter, gross profit rose by $257 million or 89 percent from $290 million in 2014 to $548 million in 2015 but increased interest and depreciation cost associated with the new factory ate up proportionately more of the revenues than other cost.
One of Lasco’s new products
Operating expenses for the nine months to December 2015 rose by 82 percent or $313 million over prior year’s $383 million to hit $696 million, due to increases in staff compliment, marketing expenses and new products development costs. For the quarter to date, operating expenses were $220 million compared to $89 million in prior year.
Earnings per share for the nine months ended December 2015 rose from 10 cents for the same period prior year to 18 cents and should hit 29 cents for the full year and close to $1 in 2017. The stock which trades at $5 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange junior market, is selling above the market average, at PE of 17 times current fiscal year’s earnings. With new products now being produced, revenues and profit should continue to increase in the next fiscal year which would ensure that the current PE is not all that high but the stock make bounce around for a while until the next set of results are known.
The company generated gross cash flow from operations of $994 million versus $509 million in 2014 even as receivables rose to $2 billion inclusive of prepayment and deposit on equipment of nearly $600 million, compared with $897 million at the end of 2014 and $1.1 billion at the March year-end. Fixed assets net of depreciation swelled to $3.1 billion from $1.1 billion at March 2014 as capital work in progress fell from $2.26 billion to only $400 million. Cash funds grew to $372 million from just $50 million in 2014 but borrowings jumped to $2.15 billion including overdraft of $641 million from $1.38 billion at March 2014.
C&W first profit in 7 years
Cable and Wireless reported a profit $144 million in the December quarter last year, the first time since they reported a profit of $32.6 million for the December quarter of 2008.
The 2015 quarterly profit was realised after accounting for an exceptional charge of $334 million for the quarter and is down sharply from a loss of $1.8 billion in 2014 that included an exceptional charge of $1.5 billion. For the nine months the loss was down to $644 million after an exceptional charge of $504 million compared with a huge $3 billion loss in 2014 after exceptional cost of $1.5 billion.
Revenues climbed in the quarter by 12 percent, to $6.1 billion on continued growth in mobile customers and data usage and for the nine months by 11 percent to $17.2 billion. Growth in revenues was helped by a 15 percent increase of 125,000 in new mobile customers, 22 per cent growth in mobile revenues and a more than doubling in mobile data income.
Operating expenses fell in the December quarter as wages declined by $420 million for the nine months period and fell by $122 million to $600 million in the quarter compared with the 2014 December quarter.
Advances from the parent company is up to $49 billion with interest cost being static at $1 billion but depreciation charge is down while amortization cost rose to $768 million from $489 million in 2014.
The results point to the company entering the 2017 fiscal year being the first full year in which the company should make a profit since 2007. The company’s stock last traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $1.69 on Friday February 12, rising 29 cents in response to the results.
Expansion weights down Lasco Financial
Lasco Financial Services reported lower profits for the quarter and nine months to December 2015. Net profit fell to $43.88 million in the quarter from $69 million in 2014, for the nine months profit fell to $158 million versus $181 million in 2014.
The company profit is now to taxes at 50 percent of the normal company’s tax rate.
Notwithstanding the fall in profits, third quarter revenues increased by $39 million or 19 percent over the corresponding 2014 period to $239 million and for the nine months, to $649 million, up 9.3 percent from $566 million in 2014.
Income from the company’s original source of business, increased by $31 million in the quarter. “All business lines grew the contribution to revenues; Remittance transactions and revenues continue to grow ahead of the industry and the Cambio and Loans divisions increased its transactions and revenues, following the expansion of the branch network. The increase in revenues from our new business lines and value added services resulted in Other Operating Income for the period growing by 100 percent to close the quarter at $14.4M” Managing Director Jacinth Hall-Tracey told shareholders in a report accompanying the results. For the nine months, the income was up by $79 million to $626 million, while other operating income grew to $33 million for the nine months, from $18.5 million and in the quarter, it rose from $7 million in 2014 to $14.4 million.
Nine months’ expenses increased 28 percent or $110M million resulting in a year to date operational profit of $164 million, 9 percent below the previous year’s $181 million. “We launched in September our first business loans branch and closed the quarter with three locations, two in Kingston and one in St. Catherine; two more will be opened in the first week of February. We also launched our Telecoms Division with the distribution deal for Huawei Smart Phones and wearable devices, rolling out eleven locations islandwide through our agent network. This investment impacted our expenses mainly due to a more than 50 percent increase in staff complement and the aggressive marketing support to launch the telecoms business launch the telecoms business,” Hall-Tracey advised shareholders.
Expenses for the quarter grew by 44 percent over the corresponding quarter to $189 million and from $385 million in the 2014 nine months period, to $495 million for an increase of 29 percent, much greater than the increase in revenues. Earnings per share is 13 cents for the nine months and should end around 18 cents for the year, but 2017 fiscal year should see a jump, as the expansion now underway starts to flow into profits.
The company’s stock closed trading on Friday at $4.25 at a PE of 23 times estimated March 2016 earnings.
Berger Q3 profits up 26%
Berger Paints continue to enjoy an outstanding year, with an increase of 61 percent in after tax profit of $153.6 million from $95.3 in 2014 for the nine months period from on sales that rose 11 percent to $1.67 billion from $1.496 billion in 2014 and 12 percent in the December quarter to reach $759.4 million up from $678.5 million.
For the last and best quarter for revenues and profit, growth in profit after tax slowed to just 26 percent to hit $79.6 million, up from $63 million in 2014. Petroleum constitutes a major item of material into paint production and with the decline in oil prices on the world market, Berger should see a cut in cost that will help the profit margin.
The company generated operating cash flow of $193 million for the nine months compared to $147 million in 2014. Earnings per share for the quarter, is 37 cents and 51 cents for the nine months and is projected for the full year to be in the order of 65 cents.
One of the great attraction for the stock which is undervalued, is the high dividend payment that investors can expect, especially with strong gains in profit. The stock closed at $4 in trading in Tuesday, on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
Q1 profit up at Jamaican Teas
Jamaican Teas quarterly results to December ended with profits after tax of $36.6 million or 22 cents per share, up 33 percent from $27.5 million in 2014. Profit before tax amounted to $42.5 million, is up from 54 percent from $27.5 million to $42.5 million.
The results came from revenues that grew by 22 percent to $387 million, with real estate sales accounting for $40 million and other income of $15 million which includes gain on sale of investments of $7.5 million.
Gross profit margin grew to 20.6 percent from 19.5 percent in 2014. Selling and marketing cost rose to $8.6 million from $7.3 million by 18.7 percent, administrative expenses was up $30 million from $25.5 million by 17.4 percent and finance cost grew by 76 percent to $10.9 million from $6.2 million.
Going forward interest cost should fall due to two factors. The company has a debenture that carries a variable rate tied to treasury bills, with the latter declining the company will see a reduction in the cost additionally the first phase of the real estate development will release cash to pay down bank borrowing.
There are signs that the economy is picking up and that should help in moving local sales at a faster pace than in 2015.
Based on the first quarter earnings, full year results could be in the region of 85 cents per share, but this could be affected by profit from sale of real estate units and depends on any added gains that may be realized from the sale of the $125 million investments portfolio.
At the end of the quarter borrowings were at $370 million with equity at $79s million. The stock which is quoted on the Jamaica Stock Exchange junior market last traded at $5.
Barita reports improved profit
Barita Investments released the long delayed 2015 audited results to September today with profits of $242 million or 55 cents per share, up from $66 million in 2014.
In the final quarter, profit before tax amounted to $134.8 million and after taking a larger tax charge than usual, ended at $70 million but that is up from a loss of $90 million in pretax profit and a loss of $64 million after tax in the September 2014 quarter.
The results came from revenues comprising interest income of $891 million, a fall from $1 billion in 2014 but with a big final quarter with $275 million, other income amounting to $640 million of which gain on sale of investments accounted for $346 million, but fees and commission jumped 67 percent to $171 million. Net interest income fell to $265 million for the year from $395 million in 2014 but the net take ended with 29.7 percent margin compared with 30 percent in 2014 and with net interest income of $118 million in the final quarter with a margin of 43 percent. Ian McNaughton, Finance Director indicates that approximately 40 percent of the amount relates to prior quarters. that would result in the final quarters net interest income being around $70 million.
The pick up in the stock trading and growth in unit trust will result in increased fee income and capital gains from their holding of stocks with a value at $496 million at September.
Total assets amounted to $13 billion virtually the same as in 2014. The stock did not trade on Monday but last traded at $4.28 resulting in a PE of 7.8 but the first quarter results should be out by the February 5 based on when they were released last year. IC Insider is forecasting earnings around 75 cents per share for 2016 with the stock at a PE of 6 based on these forecasted earnings.
NCB increases profit & dividend
National Commercial Bank (NCB) enjoyed a 12 percent increase in profits for the quarter to December last year, of $2.4 billion up from $2.1 billion in 2014 for earnings per share of 97 cents.
Profit before taxation came in at $3 billion compared with $2.9 billion in 2014. The improved numbers came from growth in revenues net of interest cost, fee and commission expenses of $12.68 billion, up from $11.96 billion in 2014. Net interest income rose $530 million and insurance premium increased $5000 million but foreign exchange trading contributed $300 million less than in 2014.
Provision for credit losses declined to $424 million from $587 million while asset tax swelled other operating expenses by an estimated $700 million based on 2014 figures, to $3.87 billion for the quarter compared with the September 2015 quarter of $3 billion.
NCB’s assets grew from $500 billion at the end of 2014 to $538 billion with loans accounting for $172 billion, an increase of 9 percent from $157 billion in 2014.
In December 2015, NCB entered into an agreement to purchase a 29.99 percent stake in Trinidad’s Guardian Holdings.
The banking group seems on target to record profit around $5.80 per share for the full year on existing business operations.The stock last traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $40 for a PE of 6.9 times earnings based on the profit estimate and with some room for increased value.
Based on the results the dividend was raised from 45 cents per share paid last year to 50 cents per share to be paid on February 26 with the record date of February 15.