Caribbean Flavours profits up but..

May 6, 2014 by

Caribbean Flavours price fell 45 cents

Caribbean Flavours price fell 45 cents

Profit for the March 2014 quarter is up compared with 2013 for Caribbean Flavours & Fragrances but gross profit margin falls badly in the quarter. Profit came in at $15 million for the quarter versus $13.3 million in the similar period in 2013.
For the nine months to March, profit amounted to $40 million versus $48 million in 2013, the latter period was boosted by $15 million gain from sale of fixed asset.
Revenue| Sales was up a strong 34 percent in the quarter to $62.8 million but Gross profit margin declined from 81 percent in the 2013 period to just 65.5 percent in 2014, partially negating the amount that flowed to the bottom line. For the year to March, gross profit margin came out at 68.8 percent versus 61.5 percent and for the full 12 months to March 2013, it was 67.6 percent, while revenue grew 16 percent to $188.6 million.
The company faced rising cost that was not passed on to customers, thus negating growth in profit for the year so far. Administrative cost was up 31 percent in the quarter, and 37.9 percent for the nine months, much faster than the increase in gross profit, that grew by just 18.8 percent in the quarter, and 27.5 percent, for the nine months periods. Nevertheless, earnings per share amounted to 16.6 cents for the quarter and 58 cents for the nine months, to March 2014. The company seems poised to hit earnings of 75 cents per share for the year, making it attractive for some short term gains with the current price a $2.70 at a PE ratio of 3.9 times earnings. The return on average equity is working out at a very high 48 percent per annum while net asset per share is $1.72.
Financials| The balance sheet is in a healthy state with no borrowed funds and current assets of $163 million versus payables of only $11 million and equity of $155 million.

Filed Under: Company News

Profit surge 37% for Witco Q4

May 5, 2014 by

The Trinidad & Tobago’s based West Indian Tobacco Company (Witco) recorded profit before taxation of TT$556.3 million for the year ended December 2013, an increase of 16.8 percent over 2012 and profit after taxation of TT$411 million, an increase of 17.4 percent over the similar period.

More importantly, the final quarter’s revenue climbed by 17.8 percent to TT$341.4 million from TT$289.8 million in 2012 and profit surged 37.4 percent to $125.9 million from TT$91.6 million in 2012. Earnings per share for the last quarter amounted to $1.49 and $4.88 for the full year. The last quarter earnings place Witco on track to deliver profit for 2014 in the order of $6 per share. The improvement for the past year came against the back ground where the Carreras, the Jamaican the sister company that Witco is the main supplier of finished cigarettes, suffered a reduction in sales during the year.

Gross profit margin, an indication of how profitable a company can be, is at a level that most companies can only dream of at with an eye-popping 290 percent for the December quarter up from 248 percent in 2012 and 287 percent for the full year and 251.5 percent for 2012.

Cost was well contained for the year with distribution expenses falling from $20 million to $18 million. Administrative expenses fell to $94.6 million from $96.5 million and other operating expenses inched up by $1.5 million to $32.8 million while cost of sales fell moderately to $243.8 million by $3 million.

Witco approved a final dividend of $1.61 per share which brings the total dividend to $4.54 per share for out of the 2013 profit.

At the end of the year shareholders equity stood at TT$281 million with provision of $36 million for dividend and cash of $212 million. There was no interest bearing debt on the books.

Witco stock sells at $118 or 19.7 times estimated 2014 profit and is priced at 24 times 2013 profit.

Related posts | WITCO profit up 20 percent | Carreras is back

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

Proven – growth by acquisition

April 30, 2014 by

Proven Investments‘ growth by acquisition took a leap forward with the announcement that they came to an agreement with conglomerate Grace Kennedy to acquire all the shares of First Global Financial Services Limited (FGFS) from First Global Holdings Limited. The agreement was signed on April 24, 2014.  This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval. Grace Kennedy stated in a release to the Jamaica Stock Exchange that the transaction is valued at $3.05 billion but excludes the seat on the exchange that the Grace group will keep.

First Global Financial Services Limited, FGFS was established in April 2004, as part of the Grace Kennedy Financial Services Division re-branding and consolidation exercise, when George & Branday Securities Ltd assumed the First Global brand name of First Global Financial Services Limited. Later, FGFS acquired the operations of FGB Securities Limited, First Global Stockbrokers Limited, Grace Kennedy Properties Limited, First Global Insurance Limited, and Grace Pension Management Limited.

The acquisition will swell the assets of Proven which stood at US$146.4 million at the end of 2013. It is expected that the two entities will be merged resulting in a cut in operating cost. FGS is said to have $22 billion in assets plus assets managed for third parties off the balance sheet amounting to $60 billion. Not all of the assets may move over as some clients could opt to shift to other entities within the financial industry. If history is anything to go by, the bulk of the assets should continue with the new owners once the deal is concluded.

Grace plans to use the proceeds to expand First Global Bank locally and the group’s financial services regionally.

Related post | FX gains & securities boost Proven

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With: , , , ,

Is Access now a takeover target?

April 30, 2014 by

Despite an 88.6 percent jump in provision for bad loans and infighting within the board, Access Financial Services reported impressive increase in profit for the March quarter with revenues climbing 46 percent to $253 million and profits of $80 million versus $61.5 in 2013. Wages grew by 30 percent to $65 million and other operating expenses climbed by 33 percent both at a slower pace than revenues.

No provision has been made for taxation but the company should be subject to tax on profit in the last quarter at 50 percent of the tax rate for that quarter’s profit.

At the end of the quarter, the balance sheet shows assets of $1.298 billion slightly higher than the $1.27 billion at the end of December last year. In the past the figures at the end of the March quarter usually show a contraction as much of the increased lending ahead of the Christmas period is repaid. Loans outstanding are up strongly by 48 percent to $1.12 billion, almost the same amount at the end of December.

Access should, if they are able to overcome the directorship and management issues, end up with earnings per share around the $1.50 level for the current year. Investors, who would buy into it now, would need to have a long term view of it based on where the price is now — unless of course, there is a hostile takeover that could well push the price up.

Related posts | Access CEO moved but… | Access & its CEO in Court | Access moved to Market Watch

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

NCB ups dividend as profit climbs

April 25, 2014 by

NCB_buildingviaMLAArchitect.comNational Commercial Bank approved an increase dividend payment of 35 cents per share payable on May 22, 2014 for stockholders on record as at May 9, 2014. Last year for the March quarter as a result of the fall in profit, the bank cut its dividend paid on May 24 last year to 16 cents per share down from 23 cents they paid in March. A dividend of 32 cents per ordinary stock was paid on February 20 this year.
NCB also released the second quarter results to March and as expected the results showed strong improvement over the 2013 quarter with a net profit of $2.99 billion up from the NDX affected $1.74 billion in 2013. The latest quarterly figures exceeds the amount reported in the December quarter when they made $2.86 billion which was boosted by a $300 million gain from acquisition of a subsidiary. Without that one off non-operating income profit would have grown by 17 percent over the December 2013.
Huge progress has been made in recovering from the negative impact that the NDX debt swap had on net interest income last year as $5.89 billion to $6.11 billion. For the six months to March the bank generated net profit $5.85 billion up from $4.53 billion last year resulting in earnings per share of $2.38 for the current year to date. In achieving these results NCB was able to hold expenses with overall expenses falling in the March quarter compared with the December figures and the latest figures just slightly higher than for the similar quarter last year being just $74 million more at $6.97 billion for March 2013 quarter. For the year to March expenses are up $1.73 billion to $14.3 billion.
The bank seems to be on target to clock around $5 per share earnings for the current fiscal year that ends in September.
The bank grew loans from $141.1 billion to just over $150.5 billion and made provision for bad loans of $492 million versus $390 million in December and $494 million in the 2013 March quarter. For the 2014 six months period bad loan provisioning amounted to $882 million a decline from $1.07 billion.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results, Dividends

NCB ups dividend as profit climbs

April 25, 2014 by

National Commercial Bank approved an increased dividend payment of 35 cents per share payable on May 22, 2014 for stockholders on record as at May 9, 2014.  For the same March quarter last year, the bank cut the dividend paid on May 24 to 16 cents per share, down from 23 cents they paid in March 2012. A dividend of 32 cents per ordinary stock was paid on February 20 this year.

NCB also released the second quarter results to March and as expected the results showed strong improvement over the 2013 quarter with a net profit of $2.99 billion, up from the NDX affected $1.74 billion in 2013. The latest quarterly figures exceeds the amount reported in the December quarter when they made $2.86 billion, which was boosted by a $300 million gain from acquisition of a subsidiary. Without that one off non-operating income, profit would have grown by 17 percent over the December 2013.

NCB_TheAtrium280x150Huge progress has been made in recovering from the negative impact that the NDX debt swap had on net interest income last year as $5.89 billion to $6.11 billion. For the six months to March, the bank generated net profit $5.85 billion, up from $4.53 billion last year resulting in earnings per share of $2.38 for the current year to date. In achieving these results, NCB was able to put a hold on expenses in the March quarter compared with the December quarter. The latest figures of $6.97 billion are slightly higher by just $74 million than the March 2013 quarter. For the year to March, expenses are up by $1.73 billion to $14.3 billion.

The bank is to be on target to clock around $5 per share earnings for the current fiscal year that ends in September.

The bank grew loans from $141.1 billion to just over $150.5 billion and made provision for bad loans of $492 million versus $390 million in December and $494 million in the 2013 March quarter. For the 2014 six months period, bad loan provisioning amounted to $882 million, a decline from $1.07 billion.

Related posts | 39% hike for NCB dividend | NCB ill-fated IPO cost $680m | NDX slaps NCB profits

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

Paramount grows profit 68%

April 24, 2014 by

Paramount Trading Company enjoyed strong gains in 2013 as profit before tax jumped an attractive 68 percent from revenues that are up 10 percent year over year but it was partly aided by an increase in other income growing by 87 percent to $7.6 million.

As of November 2013, gross profit margin increased to 46 percent from 43 percent for the same period in 2012. This improvement contributed $10 million to profit and is aided by slower growth in cost of sales of $227.8 million that increased by 8 percent at slower pace than revenue, while administration cost moved up by only 6 percent. The various areas of improvement, profit margin and cost containment enabled the company to make a profit of $35.2 million for the six month period, up from just $21 million in 2012, while sales grew to $339.5 million from $300.8 million. There was no major reduction in finance cost which came in at $10.6 million compared to $11.2 million in 2012 even as borrowings declined by just over $20 million. Movement in foreign exchange would have been a factor in pushing the cost in this area.

berger_construction-paintingFor the November quarter, revenues grew by 9.2 percent but profit before tax increased by 85 percent as gross margin climbed to an attractive 50 percent up from 43 percent in 2012, while administrative cost fell from $31 million to $28 million and finance cost slipped slightly to $4.8 from $5.1 million resulting in profit before tax of $19 million versus $10.3 million in the 2012 quarter.

During the November quarter, the company indicated that it expanded the food chemical product range and this should add to revenues and profit going forward.

The company seems set to earn $90 million in profit or around 60 cents per share and should go on to earn around 80-85 cents per share for 2015. Based on this projection, the stock is priced at 5 times 2013 earnings, well below the 8 times that many junior market stocks are priced at currently, leaving room for a good potential gain in the months ahead.

Balance Sheet | Receivables climbed to $130 million at the end of the quarter from $89 million at the end of November 2012 but is down from $146 million at the end of May (the company’s financial year end) but inventories climbed to $229 million from $172 million at both November 2012 and May 2013.

Payables, on the other hand, was up from $75 million at the end of November 2012 to $107 million in November 2013 but it is slightly better than the $110 million owing at the end of May 2013. These changes result in cash falling from $60 million at the end of the fiscal year to $37 million. The increased inventory is expected to fill increased demand for the goods during the high demand third quarter. At the end of the November, shareholders’ equity stood at $278 million or $1.88 per share after setting aside $21 million for a dividend payment.

Related posts | Paramount misses Buy Rated crown | Higher cost flattens Paramount’s profit

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

Access CEO moved but…

April 15, 2014 by

In the continuing struggle over control of Access Financial Services, the Board of Directors informed the Jamaica Stock Exchange that by resolution passed on April 14, 2014, the Board removed with immediate effect from Mr. Marcus James, all powers of management of the Company’s affairs previously granted to him by the directors under the articles of the Company.  Those powers will now vest in, and be exercised by, Mr Alexander Johnson, who was appointed by resolution to act as Chief Executive Officer, along with Mr. James, until further notice.

The resolutions were passed pursuant to an order granted by Justice Sykes on April 11, 2014, which varied a previous order of the Court. The report concluded that the dispute with Marcus James continues.

IC Insider understands that the dispute goes well beyond the issue of capital expenditure, which has been bandied about in the media and involves the critical matter of trust between the two major partners in the venture.

IC Insider has been informed that the issue of the quantity of shareholdings came up about two years ago when the Chairman, Brian Goldson, was sold shares by Mayberry out of their 39 percent holdings, which is covered by a shareholders agreement and stated in the company’s prospectus at the time they offered shares to the public in 2010. Subsequently, Mayberry preceded to acquire additional shares in the market, which became a matter of concern for Marcus James as the Chairman’s and Mayberry’s shares could out vote him.

The dispute at the time led to Mayberry asking James to buy them out and find a buyer for the block of shares. We have been reliably informed that Scotia Bank was approached but they were only interested in full ownership. Hence, that option fell through and no one else came up with the funds. Additionally, James was very concerned that he was being pressured to make big dividend payments rather than invest the surplus back in the business.

Apparently, the building at Half Way Tree Road was the breaking issue which led to the temporary removal of James as the CEO, who is accused by the Board of syphoning funds for a capital investment without Board approval for the benefit of himself and family.

Related post | Access & its CEO in Court

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News, Initial Public Offers, Stock Market

Access & its CEO in Court

April 11, 2014 by

The Jamaica Stock Exchange has been advised by the Company Secretary of Access Financial Services Limited in a letter dated 9th April, 2014, of an ongoing dispute with its Chief Executive Officer, Marcus James.

In the course of the dispute, litigation has been initiated by James against the Company and it is reported that pending a full hearing of an application for injunction, a Judge of the Supreme Court granted an injunction to 23rd April 2014 to restrain the Company from holding disciplinary proceedings that could result in the removal of James as Chief Executive Officer.

From the report made to the Jamaica Stock Exchange, “the dispute involves serious allegations and counter-allegations having to do with the governance of the Company and its assets.”

James is the initiator in forming the company and holds one of the largest blocks of the issued shares.

Access Financial Services Limited is listed on the Junior Market of the JSE.

Related posts | Access moved to Market Watch | Access growth continues

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With: ,

JMMB inside sales

April 1, 2014 by

Persons close to Jamaica Money Market Brokers continue to sell shares in the company even as the CEO Keith Duncan was reported to be telling investors in Trinidad: “If ever there was a time to get excited about JMMB Group’s performance prospects, that time is now!”

The company advised that a related party sold 384,132 JMMB shares on March 26, 2014. The shares were traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $7.50 each but the stock was selling in Trinidad at the same time at the equivalent of $9.50, exactly 26.9 percent difference.

Related posts | JMMB Insiders sell big | NCB insider buys, JMMB sells | JMMB in expansion mode

Filed Under: Company News Tagged With: ,