Profit after taxation rose 21 percent from $282 million in the first quarter of 2019 to $342 million in 2020 at Lasco Manufacturing as revenue rose 4 percent from $1.78 billion to $1.84 billion.
Other income fell 114 percent, from $17 million to a loss of $2 million and administrative and other operating expenses came in 6 percent lower than the comparative period in 2019 at $311 million.
Gross profit increased 8 percent from $668 million to $720 million as direct costs moved from $1.1 billion in 2019 to $1.2 billion in 2020 and gross profit margin improved by 2 percentage points to 39 percent from 37 percent.
Operating profit before finance charges rose 15 percent in the quarter to $407 million from $355 million. Finance cost declined in the quarter, to $16 million from $32 million in 2018 as the company continues to pay down loans that used in financing a major expansion to the plant.
Cash flow from operating activities netted $78 million, down 84 percent from the first quarter in June 2019, reflecting a major increase in inventories and payables.
At the end of June 2020, shareholders’ equity stood at $7 billion with the current portion of long-term loans at $496 million and long-term loans at $506 million. Current assets ended the period at $4.8 billion inclusive of trade and other receivables of $2 billion, cash and bank balances of $1.2 billion, while current liabilities stood at $1.6 billion.
The stock traded at $3.90 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Earnings per share came out at 8 cents for the quarter. IC Insider.com is forecasting EPS of 35 cents per share for the full year that puts the PE at 11.4 times 2021 earnings.
The company paid a dividend of 6 cents per share totaling $250 million on July 24.