Dolphin Cove listed on the Junior Market nearly ten years ago and became the darling of many investors attracted by the lure to a company that earned nearly all their income in foreign currency. For the past five and a half years, things have been tougher, with profit falling each year, but for a rise in 2017.
Dolphin Cove suffered a decline in business for sometime
Nothing has been as devastating as the impact of Coronavirus on the tourism industry that the company is highly dependent on. Jamaica closed its borders to international traffic in March and effectively shuttered the tourism sector and by extension, the various parks within the Dolphin Cove. The company also suffered over the past two and a half years from a sharp fall in the number of cruise ships docking in Jamaica.
After starting 2020 on a promising note, profit for the first quarter declined 16 percent to US$708,914 from US$842,802 in 2019. Administrative and Other Operating expenses were up marginally to US$1.5 million, from US$1.49 million while selling costs dropped 37 percent to US$643,192 from US$1 million.
Revenues declined 15 percent to US$3.3 million from US$3.9 million in 2019 with the main income from attractions, falling 19 percent from US$2.2 million to US$1.79 million while ancillary services generated US$1.5 million, 11 percent less than the US$1.7 million, in the comparative quarter in 2019.
Cost of sales declined 12 percent from US$458,000 to US$405,000 for the 2020 quarter, resulting in gross profit of US$2.89 million, down from US$3.4 million in 2019 and leading to a 16 percent decline in gross profit from US$3.43 million in 2019 to US$2.9 million.
Dolphin Cove profit sliding from 2014 onwards
“In the first two months of 2020, the company had an increase in revenue, 4.5 percent for the programmatic revenue and 11 percent for their ancillary – and a decrease in operating expenses,” the Company’s Directors reported to shareholders by way of the directors’ statement that accompanied the financials.
For the first quarter of 2020, cash generated from operating activities brought in US$1.44 million before working capital needs and capital expenditure and dividend payment and closed the quarter with cash on hands of US$802,000. The company paid a dividend of 30 cents Jamaican, to shareholders in the first quarter of 2020, costing US$803,000. Current assets stood at US$4.4 million, with accounts receivable of US$1.8 million, inventories of US$288,940, and amounts due from related companies of US$1.25 million. Current liabilities totaled US$1.86 million with accounts payable of US$1.7 million and a current ratio of 2.4. At the end of December, shareholders’ equity equaled US$28.5 million.
Earnings per share came out at 18 cents for the quarter and IC Insider.com is forecasting 25 US cents per share earnings for 2020, with PE of 33 times based on the last traded price of J$7 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
