Image Plus Consultants reported a 126 percent surge in profit to $61.4 million before tax for the quarter to November 2024, from $27.2 million in 2022. For the nine months to November 2023, profit before tax dropped to $164 million by 9 percent compared to 2023 with $180 million.
The results emanated from a 27 percent jump in revenues to $315 million from $248 million for the same period the prior year. For the year to date revenues rose 8 percent to $869 million $803 million in 2022. Growth in revenues for the nine months to November was negatively affected by downtime of one of the CT units in Kingston in the previous quarter.
Profit resulted in earnings per share of 5 cents for the quarter and 13 cents for the nine months to November.
Big changes occurred in the Financial statement with Fixed assets jumping from #319 million at the end of February last year to $1.15 billion while cash funds dropped from $592 million over the same period to just $15 million and borrowings jumped to $364 million from $113 million as of February.
Image Plus Q2 profits jump 126% in Q2
Profit drops at Image Plus
Image Plus reported sharply lower second quarter results with a 40 percent drop in earnings from $64 million before tax in 2022 to just $39 million for the second quarter as revenues declined by 7 percent to $254 million from $274 million in 2022 but remained flat for the half year at $554 million and resulting in pretax profit falling 33 percent from $153 million to $103 million.
The company indicated that revenues fell due to machine breakdown, although other areas saw growth in the modalities of X-ray and fluoroscopy cases.
Administrative expenses grew 21 percent from $94 million in the August 2022 quarter to $114 million and were up almost 26 percent for the half year to $232 million from $184 million in 2022. Depreciation and Amortisation charges rose from $10 million in the 2022 August quarter to $155 million in 2023 and for the six months to August, it jumped from $19 million to $30 million.
Interest income rose from $206,000 in the second quarter to $7.8 million and from $1.3 million to $12.6 million in the half year while interest cost declined from $6.5 million to $3 million in the quarter and from $9 million to $4.7 million for the half year.
Operations delivered Cash Flows of $120 million after interest income and expenses, but a surge in Receivables reduced the amount to a net outflow of $224 million. The company also purchased fixed assets amounting to $120 million, paid $74 million in dividends and utilized investment funds to help cover the cash flow shortfall, resulting in funds on hands falling to $110 million at the end of the half year.
Earnings per share ended at 3 cents for the second quarter and 8 cents for the year to date. ICInsider.com projects earnings for the year to 21 cents per share.
Current assets stood at $763 million and include trade receivables of $631 million up from $248 million in August 2022. Cash at bank balances amount to $110 million. “The majority of the trade receivables balance is from one large payer who continues to settle consistently and from whom we have both written commitments and detailed payment timelines to consistently reduce their outstanding amount. This amount has since been reduced in Q3 to date and is believed to be fully collectible based on the historical experience with the payer,” the directors’ report stated.
Current liabilities amounted to $117 million from the August quarter and $124 a year ago.
Shareholders equity ended the period at $966 million up from $362 million a year ago before going public. Borrowings used in the operations totalled $192 million, up from $130 million in August 2022.
Disappointing early Q3 results
Profits are the primary driver of stock prices. The early release of third quarter results for 2023 for some listed companies has been less than inspiring, with the majority reporting lower revenues and profits for the third quarter and, in some cases, reduced revenues and profits for the year to date. That is not the results the market needs to lift a sagging market weighted down by some poor profit results for the year and tight monetary policy being pursued by Jamaica’s Central Bank.
So far, Companies reporting include AMG Packaging, Caribbean Cream with it trading brand Kremi, Express Catering, Image Plus Consultants, Knutsford Express, Margaritaville, Mayberry Investments, Paramount Trading and Portland JSX Fund.
AMG Packaging reported a slight drop in full year earnings to August of $94 million. The 2023 performance is better than that of 2022, with the current year’s figures including a one-off charge and vastly increased taxation than in the previous year.
Profit after tax is down from $105 million in the previous year, but this is after taxation that climbed from $18 million to $39 million in the current year. Revenues in the current year come out at $1 billion, up from $996 million in the prior year. For the quarter, revenues fell to $230 million from $257 million, with profits after tax of $19 million, down from $25 million in the previous year. The 2023 result was dragged down by a one off charge relating to payroll tax credits that were not allowed in prior years, amounting to $11 million, had this not been the case, profits would have been higher than for the previous year. Additionally, the taxation charge for the year was $11 million versus just $5 million in the prior year’s fourth quarter.
Caribbean Cream reported revenues of $646 million for the 2023 August quarter versus $645 million in 2022, with the year to date revenues slipping into $1.25 billion from $1.257 billion in 2022. Profit fell to $3.6 million in the August quarter, down from $7 million in 2022, but is up to $10 million for the six months from $8.5 million in 2022.
Revenues and profits rebounded strongly at Express Catering in the first quarter to August 2023 versus 2022. Net profit for the quarter ended at US$843,114 for EPS of 0.051 US cents, up 29 percent from a profit of US$652,841, with EPS of 0.040 US cents in the similar period in 2022 as revenues climbed 30 percent to US$5.4 million from US$4.9 million in 2022 aided by a strong rebound in tourism traffic passing through the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, as well as the opening of new restaurants in the airport.
Image Plus reported sharply lower second quarter results, a 40 percent drop in earnings from $64 million before tax in 2022 to just $39 million for the second quarter as revenues declined by 7 percent to $254 million from $274 million in 2022 but remained flat for the half year at $554 million, resulting in pretax profit falling 33 percent from $153 million down to $103 million. The company indicated that revenues decreased due to machine breakdown.
Revenues at Knutsford Express jumped 18.5 percent for the first quarter ending August to $492 million from $415 million in the 2022 first quarter. The revenue improvement translated to slight growth in profit as cost rose nearly 26 percent to $380 million from $303 million. The company stated that it increased its workforce to manage growth. Before tax, profit increased marginally to $86 million from $84 million in the prior year.
Margaritaville was one company delivering improved revenues and profit for the 2023 first quarter, primarily reflecting improvement in tourism traffic in the Caribbean region. The company generated revenues of US$1.8 million in the August 2023 quarter, up solidly from US$1.42 million in the prior year and delivered gross profit of $1.33 billion this year versus US$1.03 million. Net profit surged to US$230,000 for the year to date against just US$94,000 in 2022.
Mayberry Investments released nine months’ results with a $985 million loss for the third quarter and $693 million loss for the nine months after reporting significant investment losses of around $2 billion in both periods, but shareholders’ equity remains strong at $15.75 billion.
Paramount Trading reported lower revenues and profits in the first quarter ending August, following what the company states is the conclusion of the best major six month contract to supply admixture to the construction sector. Revenues declined by 28 percent to $426 million from $595 million the year before and profits fell by 32 percent to $65 million from $97 million the previous year.
Portland JSX Fund reported a worsened loss of US$1,457,327 for the quarter to August this year, up from US$416,643 in the similar quarter in 2022 and a loss of US$8.71 million versus a profit of US$376,681 profit for the six months to August 2022.
The results reflect net fair value losses on investments of US$1.3 million in the quarter and US$8.3 million for the half year.