March 1, 2024

Caribbean Flavours and Fragrances Limited (CFF) for the year ended December 31, 2023, reported a 17% increase in revenue totalling $900.81 million compared to $772.23 million in the corresponding period last year. Revenue for the fourth quarter had an 11% increase to close at $232.54 million compared to $210.29 million for the comparable quarter of 2022.

Cost of sales amounted to $576.02 million (2022: $543.22 million), this represents an increase of 6% year over year. Consequently, gross profit increased by 42% to $324.79 million compared to $229.01 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The company booked gross profit of $94.79 million for the fourth quarter versus $55.64 million reported for the similar quarter of 2022.

Administrative expenses increased by 17% to close at $179.29 million (2022: $153.64 million), while selling & distribution costs increased by 19% from $9.13 million in 2022 to $10.88 million in the period under review. As a result, total expenses for the year ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $190.17 million, a 17% increase relative to $162.78 million reported in 2022.

Operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $134.62 million, a 109% increase relative to $64.55 million reported in 2022. Operating profit for the fourth quarter amounted to $40.87 million (2022: $2.26 million). Net finance income increased significantly to $21.18 million from the $6.19 million booked in 2022.

Pre-tax profit for the year ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $155.80 million, a 120% increase relative to $70.73 million reported in 2022. Pre-tax profit for the fourth quarter amounted to $49.77 million (2022: $3.18 million).

Taxation for the year ended December 31, 2023, had a 154% increase to reach $22.99 million (2022: $9.03 million). Net profit for the year amounted to $132.82 million, an 115% increase from the $61.70 million reported in 2022. For the fourth quarter, net profit was $40.29 million (2022: $2.14 million).

Earnings per share (EPS) for the year amounted to $0.148 (2022: $0.069), while EPS for the quarter totalled $0.045 (2022: $0.002). The number of shares used in these calculations was 899,200,330.

Notably, CFF’s stock price closed the trading period on February 29, 2024, at a price of $1.69 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 11.44x.

Balance Sheet Highlights:

The company’s assets totalled $895.82 million (2022: $757.45 million); an increase of 18% year over year due largely to a sharp increase in due from related parties, which closed at $237.12 million (2022: $54.54 million) tempered by a 51% decline in cash and cash equivalents, which closed at $112.58 million (2022: $229.01 million).

Shareholder’s equity was $651.71 million (2022: $563.85 million), representing a book value per share of $0.72 (2022: $0.63).

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