Salada Foods reported recovery in profit in the March quarter, from increased sales of 78 percent, to hit $220 million, from a disastrous March 2014 quarter with sales of only $124 million.
The recovery is also from a very poor first quarter when a small loss was incurred. For the half year, the company reports profit of just $28.4 million from sales of $354.6 million. The company is reporting strong growth in exports for the year to date. Exports now accounts for 30 percent of sales compared to 18.4 percent in 2014, the company reported in its release with the financial data.
In 2014, sales amounted to $251.6 million, with profit of $28 million after tax. Profit for the March quarter amounted $29 million up from $9 million in 2014. Losses increased in the subsidiaries that in 2012 acquired Roberts’ brands and now processes products under that name, with minority shareholders picking up $3.2 million of the losses in 2015 versus $1 million in 2014 for the quarter and $5.2 million and $2 million for the six month’s respectively. Earnings per share ended at 31 cents for the quarter and 32 cents for the six months. 
Receivables which stood at $283 million is now down at $146 million but inventories shot up to $409 million from $227 million at September last year. Cash is now at $95 million and increase over September’s $75 million.
Salada produces the Mountain Peak coffee but also manufactures and sells a variety of beverage based products as well as jello and some other consumer products. The stock is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and last traded at $9 and is one of the few stocks not to have participated in the ongoing market rally.
Salada makes big recovery
National Flour Q1 profit is Buy Rated
National Flour closed at a 52 weeks’ high of $1.70 Tuesday.
Earnings per share ended at 7 cents for the quarter, if the trend continues the company should generate around 30 cents per share in profits for 2015.
The 2015 results flowed from a 21 percent increase in revenues to reach $121.5 million. Improved efficiency resulted in gross profit margin jumping to 24.5 percent from 18 percent in 2014. Administrative expenses jumped sharply in the quarter over that of 2014 by 77 percent to $11.9 million, while selling and distribution cost rose by 20.5 percent to $7.9 million.
National Flour generated $14.9 million in cash flows in the quarter but used it to fund increased working capital needs. In Addition it used up some of the cash funds it had on hand at the end of 2014 totalling $43 million to pay down the loans, reducing loans from $122 million to $94 million, leaving $19 million in cash at the end of March.
The stock which is listed on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock exchange closed on Tuesday at $1.70 but is selling at a low PE of just 5.6 times this year’s earnings, making it extremely cheap based on Trinidad’s usually high multiples that tends to be in the high teens.
Based on the 2015 results reported and our projection for the full year, IC Insider has elevated the National Flour status, to Buy Rated.
Honey Bun sweetens profits
Honey Bun continues to recover from poor results for 2014 with a 20 percent sales growth in the second quarter of the current financial year and an increase in gross profits of 24 percent compared with the corresponding period last year.
Honey Bun ended at a 52 week’s closing high on Thursday.
Profits also benefited from improvement in gross profit margins, which increased to 43.6 percent in the quarter from 42.3 percent in 2014 and came in at 44.4 percent for the six months, up from 44.07 percent. Earnings per share ended at 50 cents for the six months and the company should go on to increase this in the remaining quarters.
The improved revenue picture translated into profit before taxes, rising 145 percent over the prior year for the quarter of $30.5 million. The increase was partially due to the normalizing of distribution costs compared to 2014, when there were disruptions to this aspect of the business. For the year to date, sales revenues increased 16 percent, and profits climbed 41.6 percent to $47 million. Sales and profit would have benefited from the Easter falling to the end of the quarter. The company usually have a poor September quarter with lower revenues than the others.
Administrative costs rose marginally in the quarter to $44.79 million. In 2014, Honey Bun incurred $43.98 million in this category and for the six months, $89.85 million versus $85.24 million. Selling & distribution costs rose to $32 in the quarter from $30 min 2014 and for the six months, $62.3 million compared with $52.9 million. “Exports increased by 43 percent for the quarter and by 66 percent year to date over the corresponding periods’, management indicated.
The company’s equity stood at $356 million while cash and investments grew to $61 million, receivables of $72 million were slightly up on 2014 levels while inventories kept steady at $45 million and payables declined to $56 million from $64 million in 2014.
The company’s stock last traded on the junior market at $1.90 but now has a bid at $2.35 to buy 12,000 units.
Agostini’s sales up profits flat
Super Pharm one of Angostini’s brands
For the March quarter, profit slipped in at $17.6 million versus $18 million in the prior year. Earnings per share were the same 76 cents, the same as in the prior year.
Pharmaceutical & Personal Care Distribution segment saw increased revenues of 9 percent and profit with profit rising 16 percent from $47 million to $55 million but while revenues rose 12 percent in the Food, Construction Related & Other Trading segment but profit declined 37 percent from $19.5 million to $12.3 million
The group acquired companies in the “Fast Moving Consumer Goods” sector in Barbados and in Guyana in the first quarter. “We have made good progress. We are in the process of bringing Group benefits to these operations, and expect meaningful contributions in the future” management stated in their release with the results. The Group expects to make additional strategic investments in the near term.
Although energy prices have recently stabilised, the Trinidad & Tobago economy is expected to be negatively affected in the short to medium term, as energy prices are substantially lower than a year ago.
Based on the results, the Directors agreed to maintain the interim dividend at 22 cents per share to be paid on 22 June, 2015.The company’s stock trades on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange with the last price being $17.25 giving it a PE of 11.5 times this year’s earnings.
Agostni’s had equity of TT$579 million long term liabilities of $170.4 million and positive working capital of $317 million at March.
Access Q1 profit jumps 72%
A fifteen percent jump in revenues at Access Financial Services saw profit before tax almost doubling to $157.6 million, up from $79 million in 2014. After providing $20 million for corporation taxes Access ended with $137 million profit or 50 cents per share for an increase of 72 percent. The good fortune did not all come from ongoing income and expenditure as loan losses fell from $39 million in the March 2014 first quarter to only $3 million in the latest quarter. Gains from the purchase of loan portfolios from Appliance Traders and Proven Investments resulted in a one off profit of $11 million. These acquisitions increased loans on the books to $1.5 billion from $1.1 billion at March 2014 and the profit pushed the equity capital to $900 million.
For the full year earnings should touch $2 per share, the stock is priced at $15.10 with a potential PE of 7.5, with its growth potential and limited available shares on the market, this valuation may be considered low.
Proven Investments who bought out the Mayberry Holdings last year December, is laughing all the way to the bank for having picked up the block of shares at a bargain price of $9 each.
Access is a junior market listed company on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and is primarily involved in payroll based lending.
Mayberry post good Q1 numbers
Mayberry Investments released first quarter results for 2015, showing earnings of $82 million or 7 cents per shares, after booking the full amount of asset tax amounting to $49 million in the quarter. In the prior year the company reported profit of $76 million or 6 cents per share reflecting total asset tax of $6 million. The quality of the earnings is encouraging with no one area being dominant especially areas that are less predictable such investment gains. Helping with the improved results are increases in net interest income amounting to $22 million as interest expenses fell while interest income held close to 2014 levels, dividend income rose by $29 million and trading gains by $18 million as other operating expenses fell by $25 million and bad debts declined by $14 million. The improvements were offset by a fall out of the share of profits of $31 million from the former associate, Access Financial Services. Based on these latest results, profit for the full year should come in around 30 cents per share. Profits should, however, get a big boost from stock market gains, with the upward movement of stock prices since the end of the first quarter as well as increased commission from equity trading with volumes in the overall market increasing around 40 percent so far this year. Mayberry is likely to see substantial gains in the equity portfolio which stood at $3 billion at the end of December last year, with the recovery in the local stock market, to date with more expected during the remainder of the year. IC Insider sees the gains to be had from the large pool of equities as the most appealing attraction for future gains from an investment in this investment bank’s stock, accordingly, the stock is seen as Buy Rated for medium to long-term investment.
Total assets climbed to $23.7 billion from $21.8 billion at March 2014 with equity of $4.3 billion and the stock last traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday at $2.75, close to a PE of 9 based on this year’s estimated earnings.
Trinidad Stock Exchange pockets $2.74M
The year 2014 saw the stock exchange in the Southern Caribbean, struggling to hold its own against profits made in 2013, with 39 percent fall to $2.74 million.
Revenue excluding investment income totalled $14.07 million, and was only 5.6 percent less than the $14.9 million in 2013 as reductions in transaction charges and bond trading Income were mitigated by increases in registrar and other Income.
Investment Income of $2.015 million was marginally less than the $2.021 million booked in 2013 as lower interest rates dampened the effect of higher investment balances. Total revenue, including investment income, was $16 million, 5.0 percent lower than the $16.92 million generated in 2013. Operating Expenses totalled $12.4 million, an increase of 11 percent from the corresponding charges for 2013 with consultancy and legal expenses contributing to most of the increase as the organisation completed a human resources review and also increased its regulatory activities. Consolidated total assets closed 2014 at $72.3 million, Shareholder’s equity $68.9 million and retained earnings at $54.6 million.
The stock exchange may be holding its own financially, but they have hiked fees to investors as stayed away from stock investments the same has been happening Jamaica, suggesting that there should be a push for the two exchanges to start merger discussion probably starting with back room operations.
Guardian Media profit up 17%
Guardian Media has a respectable first quarter for 2015 in spite of a tight economy in Trinidad with the sharp fall in the price of oil. The improvement did not come from the main business of news dissemination, instead it came from the multi-media segment. Guardian reported profit before tax for the quarter increasing by 32 percent to reach $6.03 million, from $4.57 million in 2014. After accounting for corporate taxes, profits grew 17 percent to $4.48 million from $3.84 million in 2014.
The print segment made less profit before taxation than in 2014, with $1.24 million reported in 2015 versus $1.69 million in 2014 while the Multi–media segment generated $4.8 million compared with $2.9 million in March 2014.
Whilst revenue grew marginally from $44.4 million to $45.1million, management of operating costs and the realization of operational efficiencies and a reduction in finance cost from $495,000 to $243,000 resulted in the increase in profitability.
Cash flows increased by $2.4 million for the 2015 quarter resulting from cash inflows from operations rising by $11.6 million compared with $9.2 million in 2014, leaving cash on hand of $113 million. Equity capital ends at $382 million.
“We expect these improvements in performance to continue for the rest of the year,” management stated, in their release to the Trinidad Stock Exchange with the quarterly financial statements.
The stock last traded in January at $19.76 on the Trinidad Stock Exchange. If earnings should continue at the pace of the first quarter the company could earn $1 per share which would place the PE at 20, quite steep for a company in a matured market. At the close on Monday there were no stocks offered for sale and no bids to buy.
Ansa Mcal 2014 profit falls
“The Group delivered top line revenues of $1,439 million compared to $1,305 million in 2012 an increase of 10 percent, but this translated to a 6 percent increase in pre-tax and after tax profit, over the prior year, thanks to lower interest cost. The real issue is that profit fell in the quarter before charging interest on loan funding, but for this, profit would have been down as the group reported operating profit of $211 million down from $222 million in 2011 first quarter” was, IC Insider in comments in early 2013 on Ansa Mcal first quarter results of that year.
What has happened since? According to the group’s 2014 audited accounts, profits are down for 2014, having picked up slightly in 2013. Sales revenues amounted to $6.1 billion, down slightly from $6.2 billion in 2013, generating profit before tax of $1.07 billion down from $1.14 billion in 2013 and earnings per share of $3.97 versus $4.31. Profit after tax due to the group’s shareholders amounted to $685 million, a decline of 8 percent from $742 million in 2013. In 2012, the group reported profit of $634 million, in 2011, profit of $597 million that was down on the $621 million earned in 2010, reflecting a continuous trend of little or no growth, which has been typical of many of the Trinidadian companies in recent years. The group boast total assets in excess of $13 billion at the end of 2014.
“Strong gains in our automotive, trading and distribution segment offset the decline in manufacturing, packaging and brewing segment” was what Management advised shareholders of in their report to them.
Carib Beer – one of the best known products make by the Ansa Mcal Group
Buy hold sell| The group is financially strong, with a well-diversified portfolio of businesses that can help it weather economic storms. With the price of oil having fallen, inflation and interest rates on the rise again in Trinidad & Tobago, the group’s main market, it is difficult to see a major resurgence in Ansa’s fortunes in the medium term.
The PE of the stock is around 17 times earnings, the dividend yield is a low 2 percent with a dividend of $1.30 per annum. The stock trades on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange and is best left alone until there are clear signs of profit uplift.
Supreme’s gaming loss cut by $103m
Supreme Ventures cut losses in the hospitality segment by a massive $103 million but the segment still lost $47 million leaving more work to be done to remove the losses and put it into a profitable position. The company was not so lucky in the sports betting with increased losses of $12 million or 37.1 percent to $45 million.
The change in these areas coupled with growth in new games helped pushed net profit after tax to $405 million for the three-month period, 20 percent increase, compared to $338 million for the comparative three-month period of 2014. Earnings per stock unit for the quarter amounted to 15.36 cents, compared to 12.82 cents for the corresponding period in 2014.
IC Insider had earlier forecasted profits for 2015 to be in the order of 45 cents per share and have now increased it to 60 cents per share, based on the latest numbers.
The strong profit growth came from a 15 percent growth in total revenues of $11.8 billion or a $1.5 billion increase, over the corresponding period in 2014 and flat expenses during the quarter.
“The Sports Betting segment results show an increase in, which was primarily attributable to higher than designed prize pay-out at 75 percent. The prize liability for the corresponding period in 2014 was 61.29 percent. 
The Gaming and hospitality segment results show a reduction in losses due to the net effect of the closure of Acropolis Montego Bay, Odyssey and The Castle gaming lounges”, management stated in a release of the quarterly report.
For the December quarter last year, gaming losses amounted to $85 million compared to an average of $126 million in the previous three quarters and sports betting contributed $46 million in losses for the final 2014 quarter. Without the losses in these two areas profit would have been much larger.
At the end of March the company had cash funds of $1.8 billion and should see an annual build-up of around $400 million, even with the increased dividend payments. Equity capital stands at $3.7 billion down from $4 billion in December 2014 and borrowed funds are at only $42 million, leaving the company in a healthy financial position.
The company upped its dividend payment based on these results by 55 percent.
