August 5, 2022

Radio Jamaica Limited (RJR), revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2022, declined by 9% to $1.30 billion from $1.42 billion in the prior comparable period. RJR noted that the decline was “driven mainly by decreases in the Audio/ Visual division (12%), Print and Online (6%) and Audio (2%).”

Direct expenses increased to $588.20 million, this compares to the prior year’s figure of $493.96 million, representing an increase of 19%. RJR noted that the increase was “due mainly to increased newsprint costs, increased costs for the staging of the Boy’s and Girl’s Championships, along with the higher cost of the National Track and Field Trials.”

As such, gross profit amounted to $710.07 million relative to $926.20 million for the corresponding period in 2021.

Operating expenses increased for the period under review by 3% from $795.19 million in 2021 to $816.06 million in 2022. There was a 7% increase in selling expenses to $259.27 million (2021: $242.85 million), and a 6% decrease in administrative expenses to $341.57 million (2021: $362.10 million).

Other income went up for the period to $67.98 million compared to the 2021 figure of $28.87 million.

Operating loss closed the period in review at $38 million versus operating profit of $159.89 million in 2021.

Finance costs increased 4% year on year to $12.71 million when compared to the corresponding period in 2021 amount of $12.17 million.

Loss before taxation closed the three months at $50.71 million relative to profit before taxation of $147.69 million documented in the previous comparable period.

Tax credit amount to $10.87 million in 2022 relative to a charge of $37.26 million incurred in 2021, which resulted in net loss for the period closing at $39.84 million relative to a profit of $110.43 million for the prior year’s corresponding period in 2021. Net loss attributable to shareholders amounted to $43.38 million versus profit of $100.55 million booked in the same period last year.

The losses per share (LPS) for the three-month period amounted to $0.018 versus an EPS of $0.042 in 2021. The twelve months trailing earnings per share is $0.08. The number of shares used in this calculation was 2,422,487,654 units. RJR stock last traded on August 5, 2022, at $2.61 with a corresponding P/E of 33.03 times.

RJR noted that upon completion of their acquisition of 1834 Investments Limited, “will see an increase in their asset base of RJRGLEANER, an increase in available cash to complete our strategic digital investments”

Balance Sheet Highlights:

The Company, as at June 30, 2022 recorded total assets of $4.99 billion, an increase of 7% when compared to $4.65 billion for the previous corresponding period. This was attributable to a 46% increase in ‘Fixed Assets’ to $1.99 billion (2021: $1.36 billion) and a 13% increase in ‘Cash and Bank Balances’ to $687.72 million (2021: $606.36 million).

Total Stockholders’ equity as at June 30, 2022 closed at $2.74 billion, a increase of 4% from $2.63 billion last year. This resulted in a book value of $1.13 compared to a 2021 value of $1.09.

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