Berger Paints Jamaica Limited (BRG) for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, reported total Revenues of $2.18 billion, an 11% increase relative to the $1.96 billion reported for the comparable period in 2021. Total revenues for the quarter totalled $789.25 million, 13% more than the $695.59 million booked in 2021. BRG noted, “Measures taken to counter the current macro-economic conditions and supply chain challenges contributed to revenues coming in stronger across all channels during the review period in Q3 2022 versus Q3 2021.”

Changes in inventories of finished goods and work in progress for the period under review ended at $19.51 million versus the $279.50 million booked twelve months prior.

The Company reported other income of $16.59 million versus the $63.70 million reported last year.

BRG recorded a 3% decline in total operating expenses, which consisted of:

• Raw materials and consumables increased by 3% to close at $1.24 billion (2021: $1.21 billion)
• Depreciation costs totalled $48.84 million (2021: $54.74 million)
• Manufacturing expenses totalled $42.01 million (2021: $37.76 million), an 11% increase year over year.
• Employee benefits expenses rose marginally by 0.4% to $423.67 million (2021: $422.04 million)
• Other operating expenses contracted by 18% to $436.05 million relative to the $533.61 million recorded in 2021.

Profit before tax for the period amounted to $25.61 million, relative to a profit before tax of $46.90 million reported for the comparable period in 2021.

BRG paid $4.80 million in taxes, relative to a tax charge of $9.28 million booked September 2021. Nonetheless, Net profit for the nine months period totalled $20.81 million, relative to a net profit of $37.62 million reported for the corresponding period in 2021. Net loss for the quarter totalled $500,000 relative to the net profit of $27.53 million for the corresponding quarter in 2021.

Consequently, earning per share (EPS) for the period ended September 30, 2022, amounted to $0.10 (2021: EPS of $0.18) while loss per share (LPS) for the quarter amounted to $0.002 (2021: EPS $0.13). The trailing twelve months EPS amounted to $0.50. The total number of shares used in the calculations amounted to 214,322,393 units. Notably, BRG’s stock price closed the trading period on November 10, 2022, at a price of $10.98 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 22.09 times.

According to BRG, “Despite the positive revenue trend, inputs to operations have continued to be affected by the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and compounded by the effects of the Russia/Ukraine war. This has increased cost of goods sold and impacted gross profit margins. In addition, in Q3 2022, we experienced challenges with our production lines that resulted in less production when compared to Q3 2021. This would have impacted our absorption costs and further impacted margins. As a result, costs associated with Raw Materials/Consumables and Changes in Inventories for Q3 2022 totalled $464M, an increase of $127M above the $337M recorded in the comparative quarter in 2021.”

Balance Sheet at a glance:

The Company, as of September 30, 2022, recorded total assets of $2.31 billion, an 18% decline when compared to the $2.81 billion recorded last year. This was due to a 42% decline in ‘Inventories’ which closed at $961.26 million (2021: $1.65 billion).

Total Stockholders’ equity as of September 30, 2022, closed at $1.32 billion, a 12% increase from the $1.18 billion for the corresponding period last year. This resulted in a book value per share of $6.15 compared to the value of $5.51 last year.