Guardian Holdings Limited(GHL)

Unaudited financials for the nine months ended September 30, 2024:

Reported in Trinidad & Tobago Dollars (unless otherwise stated):

Guardian Holdings Limited (GHL) for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, reported a 9% increase in insurance revenue totaling $4.34 billion compared to $3.98 billion in the corresponding period last year. Insurance Revenue for the third quarter had a 7% increase to close at $1.48 billion compared to $1.38 billion for the comparable quarter of 2023.

Insurance Service Expenses amounted to $2.86 billion (2023: $2.59 billion), this represents an increase of 11% year over year. Consequently, net results from insurance activities increased by 25% to $613.45 million compared to $490.11 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. The company booked net results from insurance activities of $211.58 million for the third quarter versus $174.24 million reported for the similar quarter of 2023.

Net income from investment activities increased from $1.34 billion in 2023 to $1.39 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024. As such, Net Income from all Activities increased by 9% to close at $1.55 billion (2023: $1.43 billion). Net Income from all Activities for the third quarter amounted to $543.32 million (2023: $421.03 million).

Operating Expenses decreased by 1% from $643.52 million in 2023 to $635.01 million in the period under review, while other finance Charges for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, amounted to $141.99 million, a 7% increase relative to $132.63 million reported in 2023. As a result, operating profit for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, amounted to $776.09 million, a 19% increase relative to $652.67 million reported in 2023.

Share of after-tax profits of associated companies totalled $13.31 million, a 47% increase from the corresponding period last year. (2023: $9.05 million).

Profit before Taxation for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, had a 19% increase to reach $789.40 million (2023: $661.72 million). For the third quarter, Pre-tax profit was $268.91 million (2023: $149.23 million).

Taxation for the nine months amounted to $185.62 million, a 4% decrease from the $193.57 million reported in 2023. Consequently, Net Profit increased by 29% to $603.78 million (2023: $468.15 million). Net Profit for the quarter totalled $198.83 million relative to the $87.06 million booked in the prior year’s quarter.

Net profit attributable to shareholders for the period totalled $598.46 million, relative to the $463.74 million reported twelve months prior. For the quarter, Net profit attributable to shareholders amounted to $197.41 million compared to the $85.48 million reported in 2023.

GHL highlighted, “This exceptional performance was mainly driven by improved net insurance service result, higher net investment income, higher insurance brokerage fees and commission income and lower other operating expenses partially offset by higher net insurance finance expenses and higher finance charges.”

Consequently, Earnings Per Share for the nine months amounted to $2.58 (2023: EPS: $2.00), while Earnings Per Share for the quarter totaled $0.85 (2023: EPS: $0.37). The twelve-month trailing EPS was $3.58 (J$83.93), and the number of shares used in these calculations was 232,024,923.

Notably, GHL’s stock price closed the trading period on October 30, 2024, at a price of J$308.22 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 3.67x.

Balance Sheet Highlights

The company’s assets totalled $36.77 billion (2023: $34.67 billion). The growth in total assets was mainly due to ‘Cash and cash equivalents’ growing by $898.57 million to $3.97 billion and ‘investment securities’ increasing by $723.13 million to close the period at $25.30 billion.

Shareholder’s equity was $4.31 billion (2023: $3.64 billion), representing a book value per share of $18.58 (2023: $15.70).

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