1834 Investments Limited (1834) for the three months ended June 30, 2018, reported a 26% decline in revenue from $11.15 million for the comparable period in 2017 to $8.23 million.
Other operating income fell by 77% to $17.14 million (2017: $74.54 million). According to management, other income, “is mainly comprised of gains on the sale of certain investments and foreign exchange movement.” the $74.54 million recorded twelve months earlier was due to, “the sale of a building in Canada $12M which was owned by 1834 Investments (Canada) Inc. and the sale of shares in RJR Communications Group $57M which were held by The Gleaner Company Limited Employees Investment Trust.” Consequently, total income for the quarter decreased 70% to $25.37 million relative to $85.69 million for the comparable period last year.
Total expenses fell 37% from $21.14 million in 2017 to $13.28 million in 2018. Of total expenses, administrative expenses went up 106% to close at $6.11 million (2017: $2.96 million), while other operating expenses dropped by 61% to $7.17 million (2017: $18.17 million).
As such, profit from operations dipped by 81% from $64.55 million to $12.09 million for the first three months ended June 30, 2018. Finance costs for the quarter amounted to $41,000 compared to $479,000 reported for the comparable quarter of 2017. Share of profit from interest in associate, net of tax amounted to $1.84 million compared to $2.51 billion booked twelve months earlier.
Consequently, profit from operations before taxation declined 79% year over year to $13.89 million (2017: $66.58 million).
Tax charges of $2.54 million were incurred for the first quarter, compared to $6.26 million reported for the corresponding quarter of 2017.Consequently, profit for the first three months ended June 30, 2018 amounted $11.35 million relative to $60.32 million for 2017.
The Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter amounted to $0.0094 (2017: $0.0498). The twelve months trailing EPS amounted to $0.03. The number of shares used in this calculation was 1,211,243,827 units. As at September 17, 2018, the stock traded at $1.11.
Balance Sheet Highlights:
The company, as at June 30, 2018, recorded total assets of $1.76 billion, a marginal increase when compared to $1.75 billion recorded last year. The movement was attributed to increases in ‘Cash and Cash Equivalents’, ‘Securities Purchased Under Resale Agreements’ and ‘Assets Held for Sale’. ‘Cash and Cash Equivalents’, ‘Securities Purchased Under Resale Agreements’ and ‘Assets Held for Sale’ all closed the first quarter at $120.46 million (2017: $69.74 million), $185.71 million (2017: $42.90 million) and $296.65 million (2017: $179.24 million) respectively. The upward movement was however tempered by declines in ‘Investments’ and ‘Investment Properties’ to $278.82 million (2017: 467.17 million) and $429.24 million (2017: $569.24 million).
Total Stockholders’ Equity as at June 30, 2018 closed at $1.71 billion, growth from the $1.67 billion for the same quarter of 2017. This resulted in a book value of $1.41 compared to the value of $1.37 as at June 30, 2017.
