Company Results — Page 85

Mystic Mountain $500m Pref shares

September 11, 2013 by IC Insider.com

In July, Mystic Mountain issued $500 million in 10.50 percent preference shares in a private placement. So how do they look financially? IC Insider got hold of some data to help investors understand what the operation is looking like. The funds raised are expected to cut borrowing cost, provide working capital and allow for expansion.

The company intends to apply to the Jamaica Stock Exchange for the listing of all of the Preference Shares by way of introduction and to make such application six months or as soon as conveniently possible after the closing of the Offer.

The company operates an attraction facility in Ocho Rios, Jamaica catering to all, but relying a great deal on foreign visitors to the island.

Information from the company states that “The Rainforest Sky Explorer is a chairlift ride which takes riders from the entrance to the heart of the action, 700 feet higher. The journey takes approximately 15 minutes each way and covers approximately 1.3 miles, giving riders superb views of the rainforest, the beautiful Caribbean Sea on the north coast of Jamaica and educational pictorial displays featuring Jamaican Olympian athletes that are set up at the top of the route.

RFA is a British Virgin Islands registered corporation that, through its Hong Kong wholly owned subsidiary, is the majority owner of five ecotourism parks, two in Costa Rica, one with a management agreement in Mexico, one in St. Lucia, and Mystic Mountain in Jamaica. RFA owns 54.9 percent of Mystic Mountain. The remaining 45.1 percent is owned by Mike Drakulich, Norma Clarke and John Dalton. Additionally, the Company is planning to build a sixth park in St. Maarten and is in advanced negotiations to develop a seventh park in Rio de Janeiro.”

Profitability | Net profit for September 2012 amounted to US$1.186 million up from US$1,018 million in 2011 with profits being made in the last four years, the period that the company disclosed results for. Financial performance for 2nd quarter ended March this year and March 2012 showed operating revenues up to US$2.20 million, a US$179,000, or 7.5 percent decline compared to 2012. Direct operating expenses totalled US$940,000 in the quarter, a 10.4 percent or US$48,000 increase over the 2012 quarter. Administrative expense increased marginally by 3 percent from US$441,000 in the second quarter 2012 to US$455,000 this year. Finance costs fell from US$56,000 to US$40,000 in the second quarter this year compared to the similar period in 2012. Net Income declined by 34 percent or US$299,000 to US$580,000 in the quarter.

Revenues for the 2012 fiscal year amounted to US$7.146 million, an increase of 16 percent or $1 million over 2011 primarily as a result of an increase in visitors over the year. The compounded average growth rate (CAGR) for the 4 year period is 9 percent. Direct operating cost of US$2.40 million increased by 25 percent or US$500,000 compared to 2011, resulting in a gross profit of US$4.75 million for a 12 percent improvement over the previous year.

Operating expenses of US$3.36 million increased by 12 percent or US$358,000 relative to 2011, primarily as a result of increases in general operating expenses such as repair and maintenance and office expenses. Gross profit margin declined from 67 percent in 2011 to 66 percent in 2012. In 2009 gross profit margin was 74 percent.

Finance costs of US$205 thousand declined by US$27 thousand or by 12 percent relative to 2011 of US$232 thousand. Finance cost was reduced from a high of US$611 thousand in 2009. Mystic has reduced its total borrowings from US$4.824 million to US$2.454 million in 2012 by paying down loans resulting in reduced interest cost.

Liquidity | As at September 30, 2012, the company had a current ratio of 1.05. This represents an increase of 22 percent of the liquidity position relative to 2011, in which the current ratio stood at 0.86. The level of equity to debt which was 110 percent in 2011 improved sharply to 160 percent in 2012.

The company’s working capital has been negative for the three years to 2012 and just went into the black in 2012.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results, General Business News Tagged With: Mystic Mountain, Preference Shares

CWJ: Making headway but slowly

September 9, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Buying market share can be a costly and take years. Cable & Wireless (C&W) has found this this out the hard way. Once the only telecom operator in the Jamaican market, they have seen their dominance fade sharply to Digicel, the relatively new comer to the scene and it has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to win back market share.

Once highly profitable, C&W has suffered years of losses as they changed one CEO after another in search of the one that could stabilize and then grow the business. So far investors have not seen any returns for the patience. The early months of the last fiscal year looked as if it could be the turning point as the company aggressively went after new customers with a bold move of slashing mobile rates from $9 on prepaid calls to $2.99 per minute, just ahead of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) forcing a cut of interconnection rates from $12 per minute to $5. At the end of the fiscal year to March, the company reported some success in boosting mobile revenues by 14 percent and mobile customers by 16 percent, but still reported a $5 billion loss, inclusive of redundancy payment to staff flowing from outsourcing of the maintenance area of its business as a part of a cost cutting strategy.

In the quarterly report for June this year, C&W reports continued growth in the mobile business but not for landline where it suffers from contraction, some of it, due to customers opting for mobile alone now that the rates are low.

C&W fight is on two fronts, one is cost cutting and the other is raising revenues. So far they seem to be making headways on both, albeit not fast enough. Revenues are down for the 2013 fiscal year partly as a result of reduction input payments for call termination which fell by $1.5 billion while revenues fell by $1.3 billion. The company also absorbed the additional telephone tax until March this year, estimated by IC Insider at approximately half a billion dollars.

June quarter | According to the company, active mobile subscribers are up 22 percent in the latest quarter and mobile revenues by 10 percent compared with June 2012 quarter. This revenue growth is remarkable when considered against the back drop of rates that were much higher for two months of the 2012 period and with last year’s June report showing a 21 percent jump in revenues. While growth in number of active subscribers is important as it will grow revenues, boosting the profit margin can be just as effective and may even be less costly. Here C&W is hoping that the reduction in termination rates will see most of its customers spending around the same as before thus boosting net income. The numbers from profit results since last year suggest that is happening, excluding land lines, but that could well be people using cellular as the cost differential is not all that great any more.

Legacy carriers | To be fair to C&W, legacy carriers worldwide have suffered severely from competition as the market has changed dramatically. Not only is mobile big, but the Internet has had a major impact on cross border communication, robbing telecom companies of high profit margin revenues.

The company’s focus on increased subscribers contributed to a 60 percent rise in acquisition cost for free hand sets. It’s costly but seems to be delivering results in growing the mobile business, which it badly needs since the land line business is mature.

Quarterly numbers | In spite of the much touted progress made in the mobile segment, results for the first fiscal quarter have not shown much of the benefits. Revenues are down from $4.8 billion to $4.35 billion some of which is due to the interconnection rate reduction as well as a cut in rates for prepaid customers ahead of the official start of the new termination rate from $5 to $1.10.

Cost is up in some areas and the company speaks of a 25 percent jump in material spend to continuously improve the network. What is known is that administrative cost is up sharply both for the quarter as well as for the fiscal year which ended in March. The cost in this area is up to $1.77 billion from $1.5 billion in the last year June quarter and $5.8 billion for the full year. Labour cost is down due to reduction in staffing mid-way in the June quarter, so there is more to come for this item. The sudden jump in administrative and cost suggest that it is not permanent. In support of this, a look at the cash flow indicates what is happening. Two items amounting to $715 million accounted for the bulk of the increase, but these will not be ongoing; a $200 million in writing down a long term loan for loss on exchange and $515 million in provisioning for site restoration due to hurricane damage.

C&W reported a loss of $827 million in the June quarter, a big increase over the $430 million lost in 2012. For revenues alone to wipe this out would require a net 20 percent increase but a combination of a revenue increase and cost reduction could do the trick. Much is hinging on the reduced termination rates to pump more of the revenues to the bottom-line. The September quarter may be very revealing in pointing the way forward.

Of course, the C&W balance sheet is not looking pretty with negative equity of $20.5 billion and loans of $32 billion due to group companies and third parties. Current liabilities is at $10 billion while current assets are at $7.5 billion — not the kind of ratio that one would want to see under normal circumstances. But then, this is not your normal company.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: C&WJ, JSE Company

D&G poor 4th quarter

September 3, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Desnoes & Geddes, brewers of the world renown Red Stripe Beer, reported flat profits of $1.2 billion for the twelve months to June this year. Redundancy payments of $311 million, of which $160 million was in the last quarter, and an adjustment of $88 million relating to taxation booked in 2012, bit into net profits.

June quarter results came in at $161 million compared to $472 million in the same quarter last year. The poor last quarter results is not indicative of future earnings. D&G had telegraphed the lackluster numbers when it declared a dividend in June of only 10 cents per share, which brought the total payment to 30 cents for the year.

Sales for the fourth quarter was $2.682 billion, 5 percent lower than the similar period in 2012 and for the full year, $10.369 billion or 6 percent below last year’s figure. A change from exporting brewed product to the USA market in the latter part of the 2012 financial year to licensing a USA based brewery to produce and market the product, resulted in a reduction in export sales from $3.4 billion to $1.93 billion. Domestic sales on the other hand grew by 13 percent in the quarter and 11 percent for the full year.

The company claimed that improved domestic performance was buoyed by new innovations in both the brewed portfolio and a stronger performing spirits portfolio. Cost of sales for the fourth quarter at $1.666 billion and full year of $6.118 billion decreased by 6 percent and 12 percent, respectively, versus the previous year. This would be partly due to the shift of production for the export US market. The shift in export strategy resulted in a big boost to profit in the export segment, which doubled from $405 million to $834 million but the domestic segment profit was flat at $2.49 billion. The domestic segment picked up more overhead cost than before when they were shared with the larger production level. D&G managed to improve the gross profit margin from 37 percent in 2012 to 40 percent in 2013 and gross profit after marketing cost to 32 percent from 26 percent excluding special consumption tax.

Profit before tax increased by 28.6 percent to reach $1.87 billion when compared to last year due to growth in domestic volumes and improved margin, dividend income which jumped by from $60 million to $184 million and royalties that moved from $342 million to $556 million.

Despite the higher pre-tax profit, result after tax was negatively impacted by a higher overall tax rate compared to 2012 when 25 percent was used compared with 30 percent in this year’s results.

Regarding marketing, selling and administrative expenses, the company stated, “Marketing expenses of $190 million for the fourth quarter decreased by $42 million or 18 percent compared to last year mainly as a result of our new export model where expenditure to promote our US exports is provided by the licensee in America. General, selling and administrative expenses for the quarter were $29m (8 percent) above last year. The company’s joint venture with partner Pepsi Cola Jamaica, Celebrations Brands Ltd, began successful operations in most distribution hubs previously operated by Red Stripe and contributed a small profit to D&G’s results.”

The results helped boost cash from $973 million to $1.7 billion after dividend payment of $843 million and $880 million, investment in fixed assets and the joint venture company and growth of $500 million in receivables offset by current liabilities that rose by $500 million as well. D&G ended the period with equity capital of more than $8 billion inclusive of deferred taxation.

Insider call | Keep an eye on this one for future developments.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: D&G, JSE Company

CPJ’s big jump in profits

September 2, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Add your HTML code here...

With net profit for the last quarter of US$1.4 million from revenues of US$19.2 million, Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ)‘s June profit surpassed the previous quarter’s results by 188 percent. As a result, Earnings per Stock increased to US.13 cents compared to US.4 cents the previous year.

Management stated their release that fourth quarter performed ahead of the company’s expectations in terms of projected sales thereby contributing to the significant increase in net profit. Revenue was up 9 percent in the quarter from US$17.7 million in the corresponding period last year. This, management said, “was the result of increased production and efficiency of the manufacturing division, the consumer support of CPJ Market Kingston and Cru Bar. In addition, the hotel sector remained buoyant during the quarter as high occupancies were enjoyed throughout the period notwithstanding the closure of major hotel properties.” The growth in revenues of 9 percent for the quarter is in contrast with of just 2.7 percent for the year.

The company reported achieving a 15 percent increase on Gross Operating Profit of US$5.4 million, a significant improvement when compared to the corresponding period last year of US$4.6 million representing 28 percent and 26.4 percent gross profit margins respectively for the last quarter.

In spite of the big jump in the quarterly profit, net profit for year increased by just 5 percent to US$3.2 million compared to US$3.04 million at June 2012. Earnings per stock unit moved to USD 0.29 cents. The profit was realised from revenues for the year of US$69.4 million versus US$67.5 million over the corresponding period last year, an increase of US$1.9 million or 2.7 percent. For the year, gross profit increased from US$17.4 million to US$19.9 million as operating cost fell from US$50 million to US$49.5 million. Regardless, it is the results of the June quarter that is of most import as it points the way forward for profits.

CPJ reports its results in US dollars, as such exchange rate changes are not readily visible but some of the increased profits in the quarter would be due to lower cost of some local inputs making the result for the quarter larger than normal. That may well be true but sales in the period actually rose in real terms thus giving a good glimpse of possibly strong growth in the profits for 2014. The number suggests that the 2014 earnings per share should be in US$0.50 range as they ramp up sales form the manufacturing operations.

Selling and administrative expenses increased by 16 percent for the year to US$13.47 million from US$11.6 million and interest cost rose nearly 17 percent to US$1.8 million. The depreciation charge of US$1.5 million increased by US$469 thousand or 42 percent compared to US$1.1 million in the corresponding period in 2012 representing the capital expenditure for the manufacturing and operational assets set up this year.

Too much debt | At the end of June, shareholder’s equity stood at US$13 million but borrowings was at $24.8 billion, which is far too risky. Current assets that stand at US$32 million including US$3 million in cash is well in excess of current liabilities of $15 million, but short term loans amounts to over US$9 million. Cash flow for the past year came in at US$5 million and this should climb in the new year if the last quarter numbers are indicative of the 2o14 fiscal results.

Insider call | The company seems to be benefiting from the expansion that it undertook after the initial public offer (IPO) and the promise of strong profits that investors gleaned at the time of the offer does exist. IC Insider considers this stock as Buy Rated but is concerned about the high debt load, which is well beyond acceptable levels.

Image courtesy of Simon Howden/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Caribbean Producers (CPJ), JSE Company

Scotia Group moves up in spite of NDX

August 30, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Profits for the nine months to July this year are up for one for the Jamaica’s largest financial institutions even as the debt exchange that the banking group engaged in during the April quarter knocked millions out of profits.

Scotia Group Jamaica reported net income of $3.06 billion for the third quarter ended July, $127 million above the previous quarter ended April and $468 million above the quarter ended July, 2012. For the nine months end to July, net profit was $8.7 billion compared to $7.95 billion for the same period last year. Earnings per share for the nine months was $2.70 compared to $2.45 for the same period last year.

Revenues | Profit flowed from operating income, comprising net interest income after impairment losses and including other revenue of $25.5 billion, an increase of $2.2 billion or 9.32 percent relative to the prior year. Overall total operating income, which is net of interest expenses and loan impairment losses amounted to $3.14 billion in the quarter, a strong 36.6 percent higher than in the similar period in 2012 and $8.6 billion year to date, 24.6 percent higher than in 2012. The year to date figure is affected by the loss picked up with the debt exchange. The instability of the Jamaican dollar made a good contribution to the group’s fortunes as they generated significant gains from this area for the year-to-date but not as much in the latest quarter.

Net interest income | Net interest income after impairment losses for the period was $16.86 billion, up $470 million or 2.87 percent when compared to the same period last year. The Group continues to report strong growth in loan and deposit volumes over the period. Loan loss expense increased by $215 million when compared with prior year, reflecting growth in the loan portfolio and the impact of continued contraction in the economy, especially on our retail customers.

Other revenues | Other revenues for the nine months was $8.6 billion, up $1.7 billion or 24.6 percent when compared with prior year. This was due primarily to increased insurance revenue and fee income, gains on securities trading, as well as higher gains on our foreign currency trading and investments. Insurance premium grew to $1.9 billion in the year to date from $1.6 billion in 2012 and foreign exchange trading gains from $1 billion to $2 billion. Net fee income moved up for the same period from $3.95 billion to $4.32 billion. The gains from Foreign exchange is unlikely to continue at the pace seen to date in the next fiscal year.

Expenses | Operating expenses are up 18 percent in the July quarter over that of the similar 2012 quarter and 14.6 percent for the nine months over 2012, which are much slower than that of net revenues. While property cost was pretty subdued at 3.6 percent increase for the year to date with the quarterly figure increasing around the same level, labour cost jumped by 14.5 percent for the nine months and a big 23.8 percent for the quarter over 2012. Other operating cost, which amounted to $1.62 billion in the quarter, jumped 16.2 percent over 2012 and 19.9 percent for the nine months to July to $4.9 billion.

Loans | loans increased to $131 billion, an $8.5 billion or 7 percent increase and a $4 billion increase over April’s amount. Non-performing loans (NPLs) at July, 2013 totalled $4.7 billion, reflecting an increase of $470 million from prior year and a decrease of $330 million from the previous quarter ended April, 2013 as recoveries increased in the quarter. The increase year over year is in line with the growth in the loan portfolio. Total NPLs now represent 3.51 percent of total gross loans compared to 3.58 percent last year and 3.88 percent as at April 30, 2013. The Group’s aggregate loan loss provision as at July, 2013 was $4.8 billion, representing 100 percent coverage of the total non-performing loans. For most of these doubtful loans, the Group holds meaningful collateral.

Balance sheet | Total assets increased year over year by $40 billion or 11.56 percent to $389 billion as at July. Cash resources increased by $29 billion to $77.7 billion primarily as a result of the growth in deposits and placing the group in a very liquid position.

Total customer liabilities (deposits, repo liabilities and policyholder’s funds) grew to $299 billion, an increase of $34 billion over last year. This growth was mainly reflected in the deposit portfolio as the group management stated that they “continued to acquire new customers and see increased balances from existing customers”. Total shareholders’ equity grew to $70.9 billion, $4.2 billion above prior year.

Insider call | Scotia is unlikely to be a major trailblazer as far as rapid profit growth is concerned with the Jamaican economy in the state that it is in now. However, the earnings are such and the stock price is at a low $20, that it is very good buy for dividend income with a yield around 7.5 percent and capital gains ahead. An investment in this stock could double ones money over the next twelve months. Scotia Bank is now a IC Insider Buy Rated stock.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: JSE Company, Scotia

Q3 profits up at Scotia Investments

August 30, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Scotia Investments Jamaica’s profit for the quarter to July this year was $562 million or 51 percent above the $372 million earned in the previous quarter and 18 percent above the $477 million made in the 2012 quarter. For the nine months ended July 31, 2013, net profit was $1.42 billion, down $90 million or 6 percent when compared to the same period last year. Earnings per share for July quarter was $1.33 compared to $1.13 in 2012. For the nine months earnings per share was $3.36 compared to $3.57 for the same period last year.

Revenues | Operating Income comprising net interest revenue and other income for the quarter amounted $1.178 billion, up $228 million or 25 percent from the $949 million recorded for the previous quarter. Operating Income, came out at $3.236 billion for the nine months period, up $142 million or 5 percent above the $3.094 billion for the same period 2012.

The company has recovered from the negative impact of the NDX on net interest income as net interest income for the quarter was $692 million, $66 million or 10 percent above the results of the previous quarter. Net interest income after impairment losses for the nine months period was $2.081 billion, down $33 million or 2 percent when compared to the same period the year before.

Non-Interest Income | Non-interest income, inclusive of fees, securities trading gains and net foreign exchange trading income was $1.155 billion for the period, up $175 million or 18 percent compared to the same period last year and $485 million for the quarter, up $162 million or 50 percent over the $324 million recorded last quarter. The major factors contributed to the improvement is net fees and commission as there was a $69 million jump in this category in the quarter and $183 million year to date, net foreign exchange gain dropped sharply in the quarter from the prior quarter to $30 million, which was slightly lower than the $33 million generated in 2012. Year-to-date, the increase is $105 million with $100 million of than being generated in the April quarter.

Gains from securities trading climbed to $197 million in the July quarter compared to $78 million in July 2012 and year to July income amounted to $273 million versus $293 million. The difference reflect the impact of losses sustained when the company engaged in the debt swap with the Government of Jamaica resulting in a loss on investments due to receiving a lower value for bonds held.

Expenses| Surprisingly, they were able to hold expenses below the amount in the prior quarter to $366 million, down from $418 million in the April quarter but up on the $327 million for 2012. For the nine months expenses climbed sharply to $1.2 billion versus $984 million in 2012.

Assets | Total assets of $72.6 billion remained relatively flat year over year. “There was a $1 billion or 1.3 percent reduction relative to the year ended October 31, 2012, which is consistent with our strategic initiative to focus on growing our off-balance sheet portfolios,” the company stated. Meanwhile, Shareholder’s Equity amounted $11 billion.

Off balance sheet | Assets under management, including the Company’s custody book, were $115.3 billion as at the end of the quarter, up $14.2 billion or 14 percent above the same period last year and up $5.8 billion or 5.3 percent over the previous quarter. The growth was driven by increased net asset values in the managed funds.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: JSE Company, Scotia

Consolidated Bakeries hiked profit

August 30, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Consolidated Bakeries is reporting strong growth in profit in the second quarter, a continuation of increased profits experienced in the first quarter of the year. The strong growth is as a result of robust revenue growth in both quarters of the year. Revenue for the six months increased by 30.69 percent to reach $329 million and for the quarter by 40.46 percent over the same periods last year to reach $157 million. “The increases reflect real growth in volumes across our key items and primarily a result of activities in distribution and market programmes,” management stated.

Profit after corporation taxes which increased 172 percent in the first quarter more than tripled in the second quarter moving from $4 million in 2012 to $12 million for the first six months and net profit went up by 191 percent to $24 million. Helping with the improvement was a 55 percent gross profit margin, a big improvement over the 42 percent in the first quarter last year and year to date margin is 56.5 percent versus 52 percent in 2012. Operating expenses climbed sharply by 53 percent in the quarter and 31 percent for the six months period.

The improvement in revenues and profit is impressive. The concern that exists is that the results for the six months to June last year showed impressive numbers but there were losses in the last half, thus reducing what appeared to be acceptable results. The second half of the year tends to be a bit weaker for sales and profits for bakeries. As such, the impressive profits seen in the six months may not match the results in the second half.

Working capital was in a healthy state with current assets of $169 million compared to $46 million in current liabilities. Inventories are low at $16 million and receivables at $57 million seems to be well under control. Shareholders’ equity is $495 million and debt financing of only $23 million.

Depending on how the second half pans out, the stock could show some appreciation in the next two quarters. Earnings per share is only 11 cents to June, so at best, the full year earnings will be around 20 cents. At this rate, it won’t cause investors to run and grab the stocks, even at the current trading price of $1.35.

Related Posts | Consolidated Bakeries’ Q1 Profits Up

Bread Loaf Image courtesy of dplanet/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Consolidated Bakeries, JSE Company

Q2 profit up strongly at Sagicor

August 30, 2013 by IC Insider.com

The Sagicor Jamaica Group made big strides in the second quarter with a 39 percent increase in the net profits of $1.56 billion versus reported profits for 2012 of $1.12 billion. It also represents a major recovery over the ‘NDXed’ first quarter results of only $620 million. Earnings per share came out at 42 cents, annualized $1.68.

“The improved results in second quarter reflect continued good new business and a higher pay-out of insurance benefits. We also recorded a “one-time” charge of $120 million for an adverse Privy Council judgment relating to a Cayman Islands legal claim. In first quarter we had the impact of the National Debt Exchange and Private Debt Exchange (NDX programme) which resulted in “one-time” realized capital losses of $1.2 billion,” management said in a release accompanying the results. Profit of $2.18 billion was realised for the six months to June against $2.60 billion in 2012 attributable to stockholders. Earnings per stock amounts to 58 cents, while in 2012 it amounted to 69 cents for the six months. Total Comprehensive Income including, net profit for the period and movements in reserves held in Equity, was $1.33 billion compared to $3 billion for 2012.

“Unrealized fair value losses on available for-sale securities exceeded unrealized foreign exchange gains. The unrealized fair value losses emerged from lower bond prices as interest rates rose, especially USA corporate bonds. Following the NDX programme we now carry a large portion of GOJ securities with lower market values, lower coupon rates and extended tenors” the report to shareholders stated.

Revenues | Revenue of $15.24 billion was above prior year by 1 percent. With the effect of the NDX programme excluded, Revenue would have been up about 9 percent. Net Premium Income, in aggregate, was 4 percent more than that for 2012. The Individual lines of business earned premiums were up by 9 percent while Group Insurance and Annuity premiums were level with prior year. There was good new business across all lines. Investment income, before interest expense and capital gains was higher than in the prior year by 1 percent, reflecting lower coupons from March on some GOJ bonds management indicated to shareholders.

Administrative expenses of $3.73 billion were 10 percent more than in 2012 but the increase in the June quarter is 12.8 percent. The increase would have be only 6 percent if the $120 million legal claim is excluded. The increased expenses reflect mainly higher compensation costs, the $120 million legal claim paid in June 2013 and higher loan loss provisions in the Banking Group.

Stockholders’ Equity as at June 2013 was $33.21 billion, compared to $32.64 billion as at December 2012. Significant unrealized fair value losses were also recorded in June to Investments Reserves in Comprehensive Income, as bond prices fell with rising interest rates, especially USA corporate bonds. Total assets climbed to $185 billion from $175 in December last year as the group continues to grow moderately.

Insider call | At an annualised earnings of $1.68 per share generated in the latest quarter and with a stock price of just $8.20, the stock is undervalued and is accorded a Buy Rated rating.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: JSE Company, Sagicor

Dolphin continues to grow

August 30, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Dolphin Cove reported improved profit for the six months to June of $221 million compared to $195 million in 2012, an increase of 13 percent and for the three months to June, $103 million versus $84 million, a 22.6 percent gain. Total revenue for the six months to June was $787 million versus $706 million in June 2012, an 11 percent increase and $393 million for the June quarter compared to the previous year’s $344 million for a 14 percent change.

Gross profit rose 11 percent year to date to $696 million and was up 13 percent in the recent quarter. Administrative cost rose faster than revenues 20.6 percent for the six months but 25 percent in the June quarter. Interest cost declined from $11 million in the six months last year to just $1 million for 2013.

Both revenues and profits would have been negatively affected by the slowdown in visitor arrivals this year and would have slowed growth somewhat.

The consolidated financial position of the Group is strong, showing a healthy net current assets over current liabilities of $252 million position with cash funds and investments of $205 million, but the position is boosted by increased borrowing for capital spend for fixed assets and new dolphins with $174 million spent on animals in the last twelve months in preparation for expansion. This is in keeping with the company’s plan to open and operate additional parks in other Caribbean countries where they acquired real estate and additional dolphins for the attractions.

Notwithstanding the investment in fixed assets, the company paid dividends (20 cents per share) during the six month period.

The stock is priced at $9 each and carries a PE of more than 10 times this year’s estimated earnings, which should be around 80 cents per share. Based on the value, the stock would be Hold Rated.

Related posts | Growth slows for Dolphin | Dividends to come

Image courtesy of Bill Longshaw/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Dolphin Cove, JSE Company

Producers profits up, is it time to buy?

August 29, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Directors of Jamaica Producers have purchased quite a bit of their company’s shares in recent months as the fortunes of the company seem to be on the improve. However, we ask the question: Is Producers right for the average investor?

The answer: Not at this time. With the stock price at the $18 level and the net book value placed at $29 per share, the gap is significant and earnings have not reached the level for the wider investing public to accord the stock a higher value, regardless of what the Directors’ buying actions may suggest.

In the just released company results, Producers reported a jump in profits by 42 percent to $158.5 million for the six months to June 2013 relative to the same period last year, and was up 59 percent for the latest quarter to June, over the June 2012 quarter to $73 million. For the six months, revenues increased by 6 percent to $3.7 billion and 5 percent to $1.84 billion for the June quarter over the same periods in 2012.

JP Europe | Revenues increased by 8 percent to $1.34 billion for the European division resulting in a 20 percent increase in pre-tax profits of $56.5 million for the second quarter and $116.4 million for the first half of 2013, more than doubling the result for the comparative six months of 2012. The turnaround in this area resulted from moderate improvement in the economies within the region, exchange rate movements between the Jamaican dollar and the Euro as well as expansion of sales to new areas within the EEC.

JP Tropical | Pre-tax profits of $26.6 million for the second quarter increased by 105 percent from $12.9 million in the 2012 period, a turnaround relative to the first quarter 2013 loss of $54.8 million, which included one-off exceptional restructuring costs of $35.9 million. With very limited banana supply, total revenues for the JP Tropical Division for the second quarter were down by 3 percent relative to the 2012 second quarter and rose by 4 percent on the first quarter.

During the latter weeks of the six month period, production of bananas resumed on the farms in St. Mary, commencing the generating of income to help cover the cost of re-development and maintenance of the resuscitated banana farms, which had negatively affected JP Tropical Division’s previous results. With the return of banana production, the JP Tropical Division improved its pre-tax profits for the second quarter compared to both the first quarter of 2013 and the comparable period last year. The primary snack production facility in Jamaica has now returned to production having been closed since Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

The recent acquisitions and investments in our JP Tropical Division collectively made a positive contribution to the divisional performance and we expect them to be an increasingly important part of the division in the future. The primary focus for the Division going forward will be to grow revenues organically by taking advantage of our installed base of productive capacity.’

“Mavis Bank has had a strong first half with operational efficiency gains allowing the company to meet export targets” management stated. Tortuga had mixed results in the first half with improved performance in Jamaica and Barbados and weaker sales in the US and other Caribbean markets. Tortuga’s overall performance was also affected by the seasonality of the product which typically generates peak sales in the fourth quarter and the Caribbean winter tourist season.

Regarding the Mining Company Limited, a subsidiary in which they hold a 51 percent interest, the company stated, “It had a satisfactory performance in the first half driven by the quality of our output and reliability of our service. We are now taking steps to expand mining operations from our base in St. Mary by opening a facility in Clarendon to allow us to participate in the South Coast market.”

The group has borrowings of $1.2 billion, which was used in funding investment in some of the associated companies as it reduced the amount in cash funds and investments that the Group held prior to the major investments. Cash and short term now stands at $435 million and $558 million for longer term investment. Investment in associated and joint venture companies amounted to $2.75 billion with the bulk of it being in Kingston Wharves. Shareholders’ equity at the end of June amounts to $5.4 billion.