January 4, 2020

138SL’s revenue increased by 20% to $1.22 billion relative to the $1.01 billion recorded for 2019. Other operating income increased for the year under review, by 159% to $107.43 million from $41.50 million reported for the year ended September 30, 2019. Revenue for the fourth quarter declined to $221.36 million (2019: $362.29 million), while other operating income rose by 24% to $17.10 million (2019: $13.74 million).

Administrative expenses decreased by 5% to $757.57 million (2019: $794.03 million). Administrative expenses for the quarter experienced a 8% increase to $250.93 million (2019: $233.05).

Operating profit for the year amounted to $567.73 million, an increase of 118% compared to $260.92 million reported for the year prior. For the fourth quarter, operating loss closed at $12.47 million, relative to a profit of $142.98 million booked in 2019.

The Company also reported finance cost of $257.36 million (2019: $280.53 million), an 8% decrease year on year. For the quarter, finance cost fell by 12% to close at $62.03 million (2019: $70.62 million).

Profit before taxation for the year end amounted to $310.37 million, significant improvement from 2019 loss of $19.61 million. The Company explained, “This result continues to be positively impacted by: (i) effective management of operating costs (primarily utilities) and (ii) variation claims relating to Irvine Hall. The latter item includes a variation claim for the full year 2019 as well as the claim for the year 2020. Adjusting for the variation claims, the group recorded year-to -date profit amounting to $78M.” Loss before taxation for the quarter amounted to $12.47 million relative to a profit of $142.98 million booked twelve months earlier.

Following tax credits of $6.41 million (2019 tax credit: $42.58 million), net profit totalled $316.78 million, compared to a net profit of $22.97 million in the same period last year. Net loss for the quarter amounted to $84.99 million relative to a net profit of $83.39 million in the prior comparable period.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the period was recorded at $0.76 relative to an earnings per share of $0.06 a year earlier. Loss per share for the quarter totalled $0.21 in contrast to an earnings per share of $0.20. The number of shares used in this calculation was 414,500,000. As at December 31, 2020, the stock traded at $4.84 with a corresponding P/E of 6.33.

138SL noted, “The Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on our long-term occupancy revenues which saw occupancy before March 2020 of 99% falling to levels below 20%. This translates into a reduction in long term rental revenue for the fourth quarter of approximately $101M.”

Furthermore, “The University of the West Indies moved classes online for the first semester effective September 7, 2020. As a result, students who had previously applied for on-campus accommodation, decided to defer their accommodation requirement to the next semester.” the Company mentioned.

Balance Sheet at a Glance:

As at September 30, 2020, ‘Total Assets’ decreased by 8% to $10.08 billion (2019: $11.04 billion). This decrease was primarily driven by a 13% decrease in ‘Financial asset-service commission rights’ to $8.86 billion from $10.18 billion recorded twelve months earlier. The overall decline was tempered by ‘Receivables’ which recorded a 162% growth to $619.95 million versus $295.90 million in 2019.

‘Total Shareholders’ Equity totalled $4.53 billion (2019: $5.55 billion), which resulted in a book value of $10.94 (2019: $13.38).

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