Revenue bounce for Transjamaican Highway

Revenue slipped just five percent to US$12.3 million, at Transjamaican Highway, from US$13 million for the 2020 March quarter, in spite of the continued disruption of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The performance is commendable, viewed against the modest rise the company enjoyed for the 2020 period with two and a half full months of uninterrupted service. The company reports that revenues for March 2021 increased by 5.63 percent over March 2020.
Profit before tax ended at US$600,000, up from a loss of US$1.5 million for the same period in 2020. The company had other income of half a million US dollars, primarily due to the exchange gains.
Operating expenses fell by US$0.5 million to US$8.1 million, from US$8.6 million in 2020, primarily due to lower amortization of the intangibles, offset by increases in insurance cost and the Operator’s fixed fee. Administrative expenses remained low at just US$270,000, compared to US$310,000 for the 2020 period, primarily due to reduced travel and accommodation costs resulting from the COVID-19 restrictions.
Finance costs dropped US$1.8 million to US$3.8 million from US$5.6 million in 2020. This decrease resulted from Interest payments made only on the Secured Notes and the 8% Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares during the 2021first quarter as versus 2020 when interest was paid on the short-term bridge facilities which were repaid during the first quarter to March 2020, from proceeds of the secured notes.
Gross cash flow brought in US$3.4 million in the quarter, while Shareholders’ Equity ended at US$58 million, with the net asset value at J$0.70, down from US$68 million for March 2020. Borrowed funds stood at US$245 million at the end of the period, but free cash amounts to just $$2.5 million. Current Liabilities ended the quarter at US$12.7 million with Current assets at $3.7 million.
The company seems set to generate revenues in the US$50 region for the current year with profit ending around the US$2 million or 2.5 cents Jamaican per share, putting PE ratio at 44 times 2021 earnings with the stock trading at $1.33 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market. It won’t be until 2022 that revenues will be back on track so that profits will reach a level to justify the current stock as being reasonably priced.