Seprod’s sugar closure sweetens profit

November 16, 2020 by

Seprod’s costly journey into a new difficult area of sugar manufacturing resulted in billion-dollar losses for the group. That management chooses to take on the worse performing and most difficult sugar operation in Jamaica raises some fundamental questions about corporate decision making, but then sometimes experience teaches wisdom.
After shedding the above loss-making business, profit from continuing operations surged 351 percent to $1.3 billion for the September quarter, up from just $285 million in 2019, but the jump benefited from $780 million, generated from other operating income, with $762 million of it being gains realized on the sale of a property.
Without the additional boost from the property sale, profit from continuing operations would stand at $551 million for the quarter, an increase of 94 percent, and $1.8 billion for the nine months to September, an increase of 52 percent. Earnings per share came out at $1.75 for the quarter and $3.38 for the nine months to September but would stand at 75 cents for the quarter and $2.41 for the year to date when adjusted for the one-off gain.
Revenue saw a sharp increase of 23 percent for the quarter to $10.1 billion from $8.2 billion and more moderate growth of 16 percent for the nine months to September to $28.7 billion from $24.5 billion in 2019.
Direct Expenses grew 12 percent for the quarter from $5.3 billion in 2019 to just under $6 billion in 2019, and 15 percent for the year-to-date from $15.8 billion to $18.1 billion. Gross profit margin increased to 41 percent for the quarter from 35.2 in 2019 and 37 percent for the nine-month period from 36.4 percent. Gross profit (GOP) jumped 42 percent for the September quarter moving from $2.9 billion in 2019 to $4.1 billion in 2020. GOP increased 17 percent to $18 billion from $15.8 billion for the nine months to September in 2019.
The Manufacturing segment generated revenues from third parties of $7.26 billion, up from $6.7 billion in 2019 while, Distribution accounted for revenues of $21.4 billion in 2020 and $18 billion in 2019. Segment results for the Manufacturing amounted to $2.47 billion in 2020 from $2 billion in 2019, while Distribution contributed $1.36 billion from just $684 million in 2019.
Despite a 52 percent increase in administrative and other operating expenses from $2.1 billion to $3.3 billion, profit before finance and other costs grew by 159 percent for the period from $651 million to $1.7 billion.

Some of Seprod”s products.

Loss from discontinued sugar manufacturing operations contributed to a loss of $31 million for the September quarter and $47 million for nine months. Total comprehensive income stood at $1.3 billion for the quarter, up from a loss of $124 million, and $2.6 billion for the nine months to September, up from $470 million in 2019.
Gross cash flow from operating activities stood at $4 billion, and working capital pulled the amount down to $2 billion. Dividend payment of $367 million and acquisition of property net and loan receipts of $1 billion saw net funds for the period increasing $1.6 billion to end at $3 billion. At the end of September, shareholders’ equity stood at $16.5 billion, while $14 billion was due from borrowings. Current assets ended the period at $17 billion including, Inventories of $6 billion, receivables $7 billion and cash and bank balances of $3 billion, while Current Liabilities stood at $9.6 billion with current loan liability amounting to $3.6 billion.
The stock is currently trading at $60.75 on the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange. With the most profitable period being the December quarter, IC Insider.com is forecasting earnings of $4 per share for a PE of 15.2 based on 2020 earnings.
The group is involved in the Manufacturing and Distribution of various household goods for the local and overseas markets, including cereals, flour, milk, cooking oil, margarine, to name a few. the stock has moved up in price since the results, historically, it has delivered some of the best returns for investors in the local market over several years. It’s a good long term investment.

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Knutsford Express suffers Q1 loss

November 10, 2020 by

Coming off a financial year with an 11 percent decline in revenue and a 78 percent drop in profit for the year, Knutsford Express had the second-worst quarterly performance following the $70 million losses incurred in the April quarter this year, as dislocations caused by the impact of the COVID virus the company’s operations severely.

Knutsford Express

Revenue dropped 62 percent or a huge $203 million from the $325 million recorded in 2019 to just $122 million in the first-quarter ending August 2020. Drastically reduced trips and services due to the restrictions put in place by the government to contain the spread of COVID-19 was a key factor affecting business and the financial results. Knutsford incurred a loss of $26 million for the August 2020 quarter, before finance income and expenses, 146 percent lower than the profit of $57 million earned the 2019 first quarter.
Unfortunately, the company continues the very poor practice of grouping direct operating and administrative costs together, therefore preventing investors from properly assessing the operation and the contribution the operating facility makes to overhead cost. For the quarter, administrative and operating expenses fell at a much slower pace and amounts than the fall in revenues, with expenses dropping 45 percent from $267 million in 2019 August quarter to $148 million in 2020. Depreciation charges accounted for $29 million up from 426 million in 2019.
Finance income in the 2020 quarter pulled in $4 million compared to $2 million collected in 2019, while finance costs declined from $7 million in 2019 to $3 million in 2020.

Knutsford’s New Kingston depot

The US operation generated a mere $638,000 in revenue and contributed $4 million to the loss, but that is down from the prior year with a loss of $9 million from revenues of $7 million.
Cash flows from operating activities brought in $9 million, down from $78 million at the end of August 2019. After spending $35 million on the acquisition of fixed assets and borrowing $15 million, it resulted in an increase in cash of $13 million at the end of the period, pushing funds on hands to $52 million, down from $194 million at the end of 2019. The company also has investments amounting to $97 million. Current assets stood at $194 million at the end of August 2020 down 51 percent from $393 billion in August of the previous year. Current liabilities stood at just $76 million to be more than adequately covered by current assets. At the close of August, shareholders’ equity stood at $744 million down from $827 million at the close of the corresponding period in 2019.
Going forward, as activities pick up locally and visitor arrivals numbers grow, the company stands to benefit from increased patronage and improved profitability. At the same time, the loss incurred in the quarter is lower than the depreciation charge that is positive as it means no drain on cash. The company should recover from the downturn experienced during the year, but it may not be until 2021 that investors will get a truer sense as to the level of rebound in profit as well as the stock price, that may be possible. “We expect an improved performance in the next quarter,” the Directors, stated in their report accompanying the quarterly.
Earnings per share ended with a loss of 5 cents for the quarter. Knutsford Express currently trades on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $6.55.

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IPOs are back the Tropical issue

September 15, 2020 by

Just when investors thought COVID 19 had killed off IPOs for this year, suddenly pops up, Tropical Battery‘s long-promised initial public offer. The prospectus for the issue is now available to the public.
The issue for 325 million ordinary shares at $1 each of with up to 187.5 million units reserved for priority applications, opens September 22 and is scheduled for closing on September 30, subject to the right of the Company to close it earlier.
The Company intends to apply for the shares to be listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, subject for at least $260 million being raised, by way of this invitation.
The total issued shares following the offer will be 1.3 billion units, with the parent company owning 75 percent. That will allow enough shares to be in the public hands to facilitate adequate liquidity in the stocks for some time.
The Company generated profit before tax of $87 million from revenues of $1.74 billion in 2019, a decent increase of 18.6 percent higher than in 2019 and a pretax profit of $45 million from revenues of $1.47 billion in the prior year, to September or 8.6 percent above the 2018 sales.
Gross operating revenue for the nine months to June this year increased nine percent to $1.36 billion from $1.25 billion in 2019, with profit before taxation falling from $67.6 million to $62 million.
Future growth, the Company says, “will come primarily from the addition of new product lines, i.e., Renewable Energy Batteries, Oils and Lubricants, Tyres, etc., organic growth of existing products, expansion and the renovation of our retail stores.”
The proceeds of IPO will be split equally between the selling shareholder and the Company, resulting in $162.5 million going to each, net of cost.
The Company plans to use the amount collected for expansion and working capital purposes, including but not limited to new product lines, expansion and renovation of retail stores, including an expansion of the parking area at the retail store at Grove Road in St Andrew. Completion of the buildout of and relocating to the new warehouse, head office and retail store at Ferry, Acquiring and install information technology systems for greater efficiency and improve customer experience and expansion of Mobile delivery fleet of vehicles.
Total shareholders’ equity at the end of June stands at $593 million, while our long term liabilities fell by to $315 million with the total interest-bearing debt of $415 million. The Company is owed $190 million by a related party and is interest-free, but payable on demand.
With earnings per share around 7.7 cents, the stock is priced around a PE ratio of 13 times 2020 earnings, leaving little or no room for short term gains.
NCB Capital Markets are the brokers for the offer. Unfortunately, for investors, there are no forecasted earnings included in the prospectus to help to guide them. This practice leaves a lot to be desired and it is fulltime, the authorities step up to the plate and ensure that all prospectuses include forecasted data for a least three years. That is not asking too much in the drive to build a developed capital market.

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , , ,

34% surge in Derrimon Q1 profit

July 28, 2020 by

Profit jumped 34 percent at Derrimon Trading in the first quarter of the current financial year, to reach $99 million up from $74 million in 2019, following a 5.5 percent increase in revenue to $3.3 billion from $3.15 billion in the March 2019 quarter.

The significant improvement in the bottom-line compared to the slimmer revenue growth is driven by an increase that was more than twice the growth in revenues in the gross profit margin of 11 percent from 2019, resulting in gross profit rising to $613 million up. Direct expenses rose 4 percent, from $2.6 billion in March 2019 to $2.7 billion in March 2020.
The Group also recorded other income of $22.6 million compared to $5 million in 2019 that helped in driving profit for the quarter. Excluding the increase in other income net profit would have climbed by only 10 percent and much closer to the increase in sales. Other income includes gains from the disposal of plant, property rental and other inflows. Administrative expenses rose a strong 16 percent to $373 million, from $321 million in 2019, while selling and distribution expenses grew by a much more moderate 7 percent to $100 million and resulted in total operating costs of $473 million, a 13 percent increase over March 2019 of $414 million. The group provision for taxation on profit amounts to $7.6 million versus $5.5 million in 2019.

Caribbean Flavours a Derrimon’s subsidiary

The group generated cash inflows from operating activities of $153 million, working capital needs plunged the group into a negative cash position of $208 million. At the same time, loan repayment pushed the cash burn, down to $271 million, leaving cash funds at $239 million, down from $510 million at the end of December 2019. The group, however, has $246 million in investments as well.  Net current assets ended the period at $2.2 billion. Current assets increased sharply by 17 percent from $3.39 billion to $3.9 billion, with inventories rising stunning 70 percent from $1.16 billion at the end of March 2019, but down slightly from the December 2019 position, to end the 2020 first quarter at $2 billion. Receivables were down 15 percent to $1.4 billion compared to March 2019. Current liabilities were down by 20 percent to $1.7 Billion, with Payables the largest component, down 18 percent to $1.1 billion. At the end of March, shareholders’ equity stood at $1.4 billion, an 11 percent increase over March 2019, but the group continues to use a high degree of leveraging in funding its operations. Loans amounted to $2.3 billion at the end of March, with lease financing standing at $1 billion.
Earnings per share came out at 3.4 cents for the quarter and IC Insider.com forecast is for 22 cents per share for PE of 10.2 times 2020 earnings at the closing stock of $2.25 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

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Carib Cement Q2 profit jumps 41%

July 27, 2020 by

Profit at Jamaica’s sole cement producer, Caribbean Cement rose 41 percent in the June quarter, to $521 million from $368 million for the comparable quarter in 2019 and thus reverses the poor first-quarter performance, with results that fell 57 percent.
For the six months to June, profit fell 33 percent from $1.5 billion in 2019 to $1 million for the 2020 half-year. First-quarter profit fell sharply from that in 2019 to just $483 million, with the major repairs and maintenance of the plant carried out in the first quarter compared with the second quarter in 2019. Foreign exchange losses also contributed to the fall in the profit for the March quarter.
Sale revenues rose two percent for the June quarter to $4.78 billion from $4.68 billion and for the year to date, to $9.33 billion, from $9.13 billion in 2019.
Gross profit was flat for the first half of the year at $4.1 billion but grew 13 percent in the June quarter by from $2 billion in 2019, to $2.25 billion.
Administrative and Other expenses rose three percent to $604 million in the quarter and increased nine percent in the six months to $1.25 billion. Finance cost declined 28 percent in the quarter, from $231 million in 2019 to $167 million and dropped by 29 percent from $468 million to $330 million for the six months. The company repaid $231 billion in loans for the year to June, and This will help in reducing interest expenses going forward, including the second half of the current year. Losses incurred primarily on loans denominated in foreign currency resulted in foreign currency losses of $167 million, 18 percent lower than a loss of $231 million for the second quarter of 2019 but increased 69 percent for the year to date, to $658 million from $390 million in 2019.

Caribbean Cement silos

Depreciation charge was flat at $401 million for the June quarter and was slightly down to $765 million for the half-year. Provision for corporate profit taxation, jumped 70 percent in the June quarter to $526 million and is up 34 percent for the half-year to $739 million.
Gross cash flow amounted to $2.7 billion, after repaying loans and spending $342 million on new fixed assets and working capital needs, the company ended the half with $527 in cash funds. At the end of June, current assets stood at $3.2 billion, down from $3.47 billion at the end of 2019 and current liabilities ended the period at $4.75 billion.  At the end of December, shareholders’ equity stood at $9.3 billion and borrowings at $10.35 billion compared to $13.8 billion at the end of June 2019.
Earnings per share came in at 61 cents for the quarter and $1.18 for the half-year, with a net asset value of $11 per share. IC Insider.com is forecasting a profit of $3.50 per share for 2020 and places the value of the stock at a PE of 13 times earnings and four times net asset value, based on the last price of $46 the stock traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

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138 Student Living huge gains

May 27, 2020 by

Revenue at 138 Student Living, jumped 31 percent for the March quarter, to $289 million from $221 million in 2019. For the six months to March, the revenue jumped 69 percent to $753 million from $445 million in 2019.
138 Student Living boasted an eye-popping turnaround in its profit before interest and taxes of 262 percent for the quarter and 588 percent for the six months to March 2020. The company recorded a profit before tax and finance cost of $137 million for the March quarter and $396 million for the six months. Profit after tax ended at $87 million for the March 2020 quarter versus a loss of $45 million in the prior year’s second quarter, for the half-year, profit after tax climbed to $270 million compared to a loss of $44 million in the 2019 period.
Since reporting profit before tax for the 2017 fiscal year, the current period is the first that the company is reporting profit that suggests a full-year profit. The company noted four consecutive quarters of recording an operating profit, peaking in December 2019. Contributing factors included the decrease in operations costs, particularly utilities, increased occupancies, and variation claims relating to Irvine Hall.
There is much more than meets the eyes of the glowing 2020 performance. “Three main items positively impacted this result: (i) effective management of operating costs (primarily utilities) (ii) increased occupancies for long-term and short-term rentals and (iii) variation claims relating to Irvine Hall. The last item includes a variation claim for the full 2019 year as well as a first and second quarter claim for the year 2020. Adjusting for the variation claims, the group recorded year-to-date profit amounting to $71 million,” Chairman Ian Parsard informed shareholders by way of directors’ report accompanying the quarterly.
138SL is yet another company that fails to provide shareholders with relevant information by bundling direct and administrative expenses into just one line item on the financial report. Administrative costs fell by 17 percent for the quarter and 8 percent for the six months to March, posting figures of $153 million and $358 million, respectively. Finance cost amounted to $67 million for the quarter down slightly from the 2019 period, with $68 million and for the half-year $134 million down from $138 million.
Earnings per share came out at 21 cents for the quarter and 65 cents for the six months and should end the fiscal year higher, but profits from the continuing business will be far less than the half-year numbers indicate.
At the end of the 2020 first quarter, 138SL generated gross cash inflows of $267 million but saw receivables rising by $181 million and had a net repayment of loans amounting to $106 million leaving cash equivalents at $270 million. Current assets stood at $712 million, with receivables of $418 million. Current liabilities were $1.15 billion, including payables of $602 million. Shareholders’ equity stood at $5.8 billion, with borrowings of $4.6 billion.
138SL adjusted its operations as a result of COVID-19, which has resulted in an occupancy reduction of 25 percent in April. The Chairman noted that while they expect to see the continued impact on their revenue, the company has made necessary changes and the Concession Agreement of a 90 percent occupancy guarantee provides a meaningful buffer.
The stock traded at $6.69 on the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, with a PE ratio of 13.5 times 2020 earnings from ongoing revenues.

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Profit soars 103% at Seprod

May 21, 2020 by

Seprod expected their entry into sugar production in 2009 was going to be a lucrative endeavour with their business acumen, strong capital base and vision they would succeed where others failed for decades. According to a Gleaner report in 2010, “the company not only acquired some 820 hectares of lands last year to add to its Golden Grove Sugar Company operations but also upgraded its factory. The strategy of an upgraded factory and “economies of scale” is expected to reap increased revenues for the group, according to Group Chairman Paul Scott.” Shortly after they acquired the business, the directors were told they were undertaking a huge gamble and would have been better off if they had left it alone. Ten years later, with billion-dollar losses, Seprod finally stopped the costly experiment.
Having disposed of the sugar manufacturing operation, the company slashed its sugar losses by 89 percent from $139 million for the first quarter in 2019, to just under $15 million for the quarter just ended. The reduction in the sugar operating losses helped the net profit to soar 103 percent to $633 million, up from $312 million from the first quarter of 2019 that includes net loss from discontinued operations of $139 million. So strong are the first-quarter numbers that the profit amounts to 65 percent of the full year’s profit in 2019. Earnings per share came out at 86 cents for the quarter.
First-quarter revenues increased six percent to $9.14 billion over the $8.6 billion for the comparative period last year. Manufacturing segment revenue was up 17 percent to $5.2 billion compared to March 2019, while distribution revenues increased 14 percent to $6.9 billion. Segment profit for the Manufacturing segment grew from $682 million to $1.14 million and that for the distribution segment increased from $156 million to $418 million. Export sales rose 13 percent over last year’s first quarter, accounting for $405 million in revenue or 4 percent of the total revenue.

Some of Seprod’s products.

The net profit increase for the quarter comes on the heels of an 8 percent decline in profit for the year ended 2019, dropping from $1.1 billion in 2018 to $973 million, although revenue increased for the year by 45 percent to $32.7 billion, resulting from acquisition and mergers mostly from businesses within the Musson Group.
For the quarter, direct expenses rose a modest one percent coming in at $6.4 billion and other operating expenses increased two percent to $1.78 billion year over year and finance costs fell three percent, from $287 million at the end of March 2019 to $280 million at the close of 2020 first quarter.
Seprod raked in $1.1 billion in operating profit for the quarter, a 32 percent increase over the $835 million in the corresponding period to March 2019. Operating profit margin rose 20 percent from 10 percent to 12 percent, year-over-year.
The group generated gross Cash inflows of $1 billion and ended with cash and equivalents of $1.1 billion, down from $1.48 billion at the start of the year. There was a sharp reduction in payables but a big increase in receivables since December 2019 and there was a near billion-dollar drop in inventories. Net current assets ended the period at $7.8 billion, after accounting for current liabilities of $6 billion. At the end of March, shareholders’ equity stood at $15.6 billion, but borrowings totaled $13.5 billion. Seprod paid $366 million in dividends compared to $330 million in the previous year’s first quarter.
The company executives note that COVID-19 had a “minor negative impact” on its first-quarter results and it is expected that the full effect of the pandemic on company operations will be realized in subsequent quarters. Notwithstanding, it is important to note that the Seprod group includes several companies that manufacture or distribute what many consumers deem as essential foods and pharmaceutical items, which should also factor into the company’s ability to withstand this economic shock during this period.
IC Insider.com is forecasting $4 per share for 2020, with the stock trading at $51 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with a PE ratio of 12.8 times 2020 earnings.

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Q1 profit down 57% at Carib Cement

May 19, 2020 by

Jamaica’s sole cement processing company, Caribbean Cement recorded a modest 2 percent increase in revenues to $4.5 billion for the quarter ending March 2020, over the 2019corresponding period and finished with a 57 percent decline in profit to $483 million, down from last year’s $1.1 billion for the March quarter.  
The quarterly performance followed a weak December 2019 quarter when profit dropped from $1.1 billion in the 2018 December quarter to just $319,276.
Helping to pressure the company’s performance for the latest period was a 16 percent rise in direct production cost that moved from $2.3 billion to $2.6 billion, with repairs and maintenance increasing $100 million and equipment hire moving up by $170 million over the 2019 period with raw materials accounting for most of the balance of the increase. The Directors pointed to the fact that the annual maintenance shutdown occurred in the first quarter this year versus the second quarter in 2019. As a result, operating profit decreased by 23 percent, moving from $1.58 billion to $1.22 billion resulting in profit margin falling from 35.5 percent in the 2019 first quarter to 27 percent in 2020.
Other operating expenses rose 15 percent from $568 million to $651 million in the quarter. Finance cost declined in the quarter, from $236 million to $164 million as the company paid down loans during the past year. Foreign exchange losses rose to $281 million for the quarter, from a surplus of $67 million in the previous year’s corresponding period.
The Directors note that “the full impact of COVID-19 on the company’s operations, particularly in its export market, is yet to be seen.”
The company continues to enjoy a healthy cash flow with the quarter bringing in $1.1 billion, just a few million dollars lower than for the 2019 period. Shareholders’ equity stood at $8.8 billion and total borrowed funds of $12 billion down from $14.8 billion in March 2019. Current assets ended the period at $3.1 billion inclusive of trade accounts receivables of $450 million and cash and bank balances amounting to $348 million. Current liabilities rounded out the quarter at $4.9 billion, including short-term borrowings of $1.7 billion.
Earnings per share came out at 57 cents for the quarter, down from $1.33 in 2019. IC Insider.com is forecasting around $4 per share for the year with the PE currently at 12.5 times 2020 earnings, but a lot will depend on if there are not many dislocations to cement demand from the current economic slowdown. The stock last traded at $51.50 on the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

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Depreciation melts Kremi profit

May 18, 2020 by

A quick look at the audited accounts for Caribbean Cream to February shows another year of disappointing results that cut across the likely outturn the November 2019 results suggested. Closer examination of the data reveals a far better picture of the company’s performance than initially meets the eye.

Caribbean Cream Kremi brand

Profit for 2020 fell sharply, but gross cash flow rose for the year in which revenues rose 10 percent as a sharp rise in depreciation charge knocked net profit down to $55 million from the $89 million reported in 2019 with earnings per share falling to 14 cents, down from 23 cents in 2019.
The depreciation charge more than doubled in the year, with an increase of $63 million, to end at $115 million as fixed assets amounting to $432 million were added during the year and were subject to be depreciated. Leased assets costing $115 million, also incurred depreciation, a different treatment than in the prior year. Although the profit fell sharply by 38.5 percent, increased depreciation resulted in gross cash inflows being $195 million compared to $165 million in 2019.
Revenues rose 10 percent from $1.55 billion to $1.7 billion for the year, with the final quarter growing at a faster pace than the 7.7 up to November. In the last quarter, revenues grew a healthy 16.2 percent to $471 million from $405 million in 2019. Unfortunately, of the $115 million depreciation charge for the year, only $53 million was booked up to November last year, resulting in $62 million booked in the final quarter.
Gross profit margin declined in the year leading to gross profit rising slower than the increase in revenues at 5 percent to $546 million and is due primarily to a 12 percent rise in raw material cost and a 76 percent increase in depreciation charges in the manufacturing operation. Overall, cost rose faster than the increase in revenues for the year with Administrative, selling and distribution expenses 15 percent for the year.
The company is in a healthy financial position at the end of February, with shareholders’ equity stood at $744 million with borrowings of $232 million. Net current assets ended the period at $74 million inclusive of trade and other receivables of $58 million, cash and bank balances of $129 million while Current liabilities closed the period at $232 million.
IC Insider.com is forecasting earning per share of 50 cents for the current fiscal year, assuming only minimal negative impact from Coronavirus. The stock traded at $2.20 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with a PE ratio of 4.5 times 2021 earnings.

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Junior Market up 33% from March low

April 14, 2020 by

The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange continues its recovery from the savage decline of March and is back to levels reached in the first week of that month and is up 33 percent from the March low.
Within half an hour of trading, the Junior Market Index crossed over the 2,700 points mark to 2,706.06 and is up 63.25 points from Thursday close and is ahead of the March 5 ending of 2,656.41 points but lower than the close on March 4 of 2,758.76, but is some distance from the February close of 2,911.92.
The Main Market continues to recover and the All Jamaica Composite Index is up 5,703.56 points to 443071.44 and is above the March 16 close of 434,832.42.

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