Caribbean Cement reported record profit for the year ending December 2020 from sales that rose 13 percent to $20 billion and up 17.8 percent in the final quarter to $5 billion from $4.3 billion in 2019.
For the year, profit after tax surged 70 percent to $3.2 billion after tax provision of $1.2 billion. The tax charge includes deferred tax amounting to $414 million, down from $664 million in 2019. The results would have been far better but for a billion loss in foreign exchange movement, but interest cost fell from $939 million to $812 million, partially cushioning some exchange losses. Interest cost will fall further in 2021 as the debt load recedes with the strong cash flows allowing for the rapid repayment of the $4.4 billion of long term loans.
Gross profit improved rapidly, surging faster than the increase in revenues with a 26.45 percent increase from $7.2 billion to $9.1 billion. The company also benefited from reducing administrative and other expenses that fell from 2.5 billion to $2.35 billion. The company has contracts that hedge diesel fuel to protect it from major increases in one of the largest cost in its operations.
Earnings per share came in at $3.76 for the year, just ahead of ICInsider.com’s forecast of $3.76. ICInsider.com projects earnings of $5.7 billion with EPS of $6.70 in 2021.
Cement generated positive cash flow of $6.5 billion, repaid $4.7 billion in loans and paid $1.5 billion to redeem preference shares due to the Trinidad Cement, its immediate majority shareholder. The amount owing for the TCL preference shares is now down to $2.3 billion with loans outstanding at 4.4 billion, of which $3.1 billion is in Jamaican dollars owing to National Commercial Bank and $1.34 billion due to Cemex Espana in US dollars. The reduction in overseas debt has significantly reduced the foreign exchange exposure, with 2021 set to benefit from a sharp reduction in exchange losses.
At the end of the year, shareholders’ equity moved to $11.5 billion from $8.3 billion at the end of 2019. The stock is one of the original IC TOP 15 stocks for 2021 in the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange and remains in the list but now at 13th position with a target price of $135 in the next twelve months. The company is set to benefit from an improving economy, with low interest rates encouraging real estate development and ownership as well as expansion and rehabilitation of the country’s infrastructure that will consume an increasing amount of cement.
The stock closed at $65 on Friday with eth PE ratio at 17 times 2020 earnings and just 10 times 2021 projected earnings. The company has a strong balance sheet that is getting stronger each year and is moving into a phase where the payment of a dividend cannot be far away. Based on the above, Caribbean Cement enjoys ICInsider.com coveted BUY RATED investment approval.
Record Carib Cement profit up 70%
Rights for TCL shareholders
Shareholders in Trinidad Cement will be offered additional shares in the company by way of a rights Issue of 124,882,568 new shares, to be priced at TT$2.90 per share. Shareholders will be offered the right to purchase one new share for every two shares held. The stock last traded at $2.70 on Thursday on the Trinidad Stock exchange. The issue if fully taken up will raise $362,159,447 for the company.
The issue will be underwritten by up to US$45 million by Sierra Trading an affiliate of Cemex SAB to ensure that the minimum funding targeted of US50 is met. In order to have the underwriting of that magnitude the company needed to and got permission of shares at an extraordinary meeting to lift a 20 percent shareholding limitation, in case the shareholders did not subscribed to enough of the rights they are entitled to.
Sierra Trading will take up the rights due them on their 20 percent ownership of the group. The agreement stipulates that if after the rights issue the underwriting company does not get up to 35 percent of the shares of TCL then there will be a private placement of TCL shares to bring the holdings to 35 percent of TCL issued shares.
Carib Cement One of the groups subsidiaries
TCL is loaded down with debt at relatively high interest rates. The debt at the end of 2013 was just under TT$2 billion all of which has been switched to current liabilities as a result of the default occasioned by the decision of the company to suspend payment on the debt pending negotiation of the terms. Equity stood at TT$570 million at the end of September, well below the debt. All amounts are in TT dollars. If the fresh capital is raised equity will reach around $1 billion and loans should decline to around $1.3 billion by the end of 2015 or close to a one for one relationship between debt and equity. The improved capital profile of the company should allow them to finance the remaining debt at a more advantageous cost than currently.
The rights is not badly priced as the stock an IC Insider BUY RATED seal of approval is severely undervalued on the TTSE. Investors will of course take into consideration negative economic development in Trinidad its main market with the fall in oil prices world wide an its impact on revenues for the country.
