Profit jumped 94 percent in the March 2021 quarter, to $8 million from $4 million in 2020, with revenues that rose 10 percent, to $96 billion from $88 billion in 2020 at tTech.
Gross profit margin slipped in the quarter to 67 percent from 69 percent in the prior year’s first quarter, but gross profit rose to $65.6 million from $61 million in 2020.
Administrative expenses increased 7 percent to $55 million in the quarter from $52 million. Marketing and sales expenses declined by 39 percent to $4.8 million from $7.8 million in 2020. Finance cost declined, to just $582,000 from $607,000 in 2020.
“tTech has had an encouraging start to 2021. Our marketing activities during the second half of 2020 have begun to bear fruit; also, customers who reached out to us for assistance as a result of the pandemic are requesting more services and products. Several other new opportunities have been converted, contributing positively to revenues and profits in the quarter. Another major contributing factor towards the momentum is tTech’s continued rollout of a holistic business management system to align and synchronize our business processes, particularly in relation to service delivery,” the chief operating officer and director, Christopher Reckord stated in his report accompanying the quarterly.
tTech net profit from 2017 to 2020 with the projected profit for 2021.
Gross cash flow brought in $7 million. Working capital movements resulted in an improved cash position for the quarter of $15 million, pushing cash and equivalent to $132 million, up from $116 at the end of December last year. At the end of the quarter, shareholders’ equity stands at $247 million and the company has $28 million in long-term debt on its books. Net current assets ended the period at $268 million, well above the amount for Payables of $65 million.
According to Rickord, the company added six new staff members in the year, including two administrative personnel and four technical persons. That number may increase as the year progresses as the pipeline of potential projects grows. The increased staffing brings the total to 55. Reckord says that revenues will continue to grow during the year, based on the pipeline of projects lining up. ICInsider.com raised the question of the first quarter performance continuing for the full year? He indicates that they are those within the organization who feel that the growth in the first quarter indicates what can be expected for the remainder of the year.
Earnings per share came out at 8 cents for the quarter, up from 4 cents in 2020. The stock traded at $4.60 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with a PE ratio of 10 times 2021 earnings, with ICInsider.com forecasting 50 cents per share for the full year and 90 cents in 2022.
