Profit at Jamaica Broilers Group fell 13 percent in the July quarter to $361 million from $413 million in 2018 but IC Insider.com computations point to strong gains in profit for the year ending in April 2020 as revenues rise and costs are contained below inflation.
At the same time, profit attributable to shareholders dropped 8 percent to $368 million from $399 million in 2018 even as gross profit increased slightly over 2018 from $3.18 billion to $3.32 billion as sale revenues rose 9 percent to $13 billion, from $12 billion in the corresponding quarter in 2018.
Cost of sales increased 11 percent for the quarter, to $10 billion from $9 billion in 2018 resulting in gross profit margin in the quarter declining to 25 percent from 26 percent in 2018. Distribution cost rose just 2 percent to $445 million from $436 million in the corresponding quarter in 2018. Operating profit increased by 2 percent to $679 million from $665 million in 2018. Finance income fell sharply by 88 percent to $36 million from $300 million in the corresponding period in 2018.
Jamaica Broilers chicken
Administrative expenses remained flat at $2.3 billion, but Finance cost, declined by 7 percent to $299 million from $324 million in 2018 and corporate taxes fell a sharp 76 percent to $55 million.
The group’s segment results were mixed, with foreign exchange losses and political and economic volatility in Haiti negatively impacting the results. The Jamaica segment produced $8.4 billion in revenues, but just slightly above the $8.24 billion generated in 2018 profit resulting in a 9 percent fall in segment profit of $764 million. Operations in Haiti produced $19 million in profit compared to $60 million in the previous year from a fall in revenues from $595 million down to $530 million. Profit from the US operations climbed by 11 percent to $333 million from $ 300 million in 2018 as revenues climbed to $4.34 billion from $3.3 billion in 2018.
Gross cash flows from brought in $650 million but after a dividend payment in the quarter amounted to $212 million and other long term liabilities of $720 million, cash inflows ended at $316 million and that pushed cash and equivalent to $3.65 billion. At the end of July, shareholders’ equity stood at $15 billion with borrowings at just $7 billion. Current assets ended the period at $22 billion inclusive of receivables of $4 billion and inventories of $7 billion, cash and bank balances of $4 billion and current liabilities of $13 billion.
Earnings per share came out at 35.81 cents for the quarter. IC Insider.com is forecasting $3.50 per share for PE of 10 times the current year’s earnings and earnings of $5 for the 2021 fiscal year.
