Guardian Media profit falls sharply since 2014.
A sharp fall in sale revenues in 2017, at Trinidad’s Guardian Media left the company hugging a small loss for the year ending December, according to an abridged quarterly report.
Profit dropped 94 percent in the 2017, to TT$488,000, for the December quarter before tax, from $8.5 million in 2016, but rose to $1.9 million after a tax credit of $1.4 million from a net profit of just $400,000 in 2016. For the year, the media house recorded a loss of TT$3 million after tax, from a profit after tax of $6.3 million in 2016, resulting in negative earnings per share of 8 cents.
Revenues fell 20.6 percent in the December 2017 quarter to TT$36 from $45 million and 16 percent to TTS$138 million from $164 million for the year.
The 2017 results is in stark contrast to 2015 when the company posted $35 million after tax and TT$34 million in 2014 from revenues in excess of $195 million for both years.
Cash flow brought in amounted to TT$20 million but capital payments and investments activities including paying $24 million in dividends used up $27 million, leaving cash at $72 million. Shareholders’ equity at the end of December, stood at TT$278 million, down from $305 million in 2016. Current assets ended the year at TT$131 million well ahead of current liabilities of TT$49 million.
According to the company’s chairman Peter Clarke, in his report included with the results, “2017 was a year of transition for Guardian Media as it implemented a number of planned structural changes. These changes included: (1) print automation systems to improve efficiency; (2) internal restructuring to lower the cost base and further improve the efficiency and quality of content creation and (3) re-alignment of teams to better serve our customers and fully equip the company for the digital media landscape. The one-time costs of these changes are reflected in these results. Parallel to this, the country’s economic slowdown has had a considerable impact on advertising spend across all sectors.”
The stock last traded at TT$17.98 in November on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE), but now has an offer at $16.38. Net asset value is TT$6.66 per stock, with the stock offered for sale at 2.46 times book value. The company is a subsidiary of Ansa McAl which is also listed on the TTSE.
