Date: December 31, 2019
CAC 2000 (CAC) revenues for the year ended October 31, 2019, declined by 7% to close at $1.12 billion (2018: $1.21 billion). Revenues for the fourth quarter increased by 27% to $382.51 million compared to $302.18 million for the same period in the prior financial year.
Management stated that, “we have seen a ramping up of revenues in our last quarter and we started our new financial year with over $870M of contracts in hand.”
Cost of sales inched up by 1% for the period to $768.68 million (2018: $757.80 million). Consequently, Gross Profit for the year fell 22% to $351.52 million (2018: $453.19 million). For the quarter, Gross Profit improved 12% to close at $112.32 million (2018: $100.39 million).
The Company reported a slight increase in total expenses to $389.53 million (2018: $384.16 million). This was as a result of a 6% increase in General Administration to $367.82 million (2018: $347.14 million). The increase was however tempered by a 41% downward movement in Selling & Distribution Expenses to $21.71 million (2018: $37.02 million).
Other Income of $47.21 million was recorded for the period up from $19.03 million reported for the same period the prior year. The Company noted that, “this was due to the impact of the Barbuda project.”
Profit before taxation and finance cost fell by 90% to $9.20 million (2018: $88.07 million). While for the quarter, profit before taxation and finance cost closed at $29.51 million (2018: $12.32 million).
Net Finance Costs went up for the period in review to $35.71 million (2018: $13.30 million). Interest expense for the year end amounted to $28.70 million relative to $22.67 million twelve months earlier. Interest income and other losses amounted to $282,280 (2018: $3.33 million) and $7.29 million (2017: Other gains of $6.05 million) respectively. CAC stated that, “this was due to increased interest payments and a large downward swing in foreign exchange gains.”
Loss Before Taxation for the year-end to closed at $26.51 million versus profit before taxation of $74.77 million in the prior comparable period. No taxes were recorded for the period. Net loss for the year-end amounted to $26.51 million compared to net profit of $74.77 million booked in the same period last year. Net Profit for the quarter was reported at $12.96 million compared to $2.28 million for the corresponding quarter of 2018.
Loss-per-share (LPS) for the year end amounted to $0.21 compared to an earnings per share of $0.58 in 2018, while for the quarter the EPS amounted to $0.10 versus an EPS of $0.02 in 2018. The number of shares used in our calculations is 129,032,258 units. Notably, CAC’s stock price closed the trading period on December 30, 2019 at a price of $15.00.
Balance Sheet Highlights:
As at October 31, 2019, the Company reported total assets of $1.18 billion, a 13% increase when compared to $1.04 billion a year ago. This was as a result ‘Trade and Other Receivables’ which increased 5% to $510.81 million (2018: $485.47 million) and ‘Cash and Cash Equivalents’ which rose 89% to $221.48 million (2018: $117.04 million). The increase was partially tempered by a decline in ‘Property, Plant and Equipment’ and ‘Inventories’ which amounted to $44.12 million (2018: $51.85 million) and $343.92 million (2018: $367 million), respectively.
Total Shareholders’ Equity as at October 31, 2019 was $366.95 million compared to $487.54 million a year ago. This resulted in a book value per share of $2.84 compared to $3.78 in 2018.
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