Date: November 14, 2018
Caribbean Flavours and Fragrances Limited, for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, reported Revenue amounting to $120.14 million, an increase of 21%, when compared with the $99.59 million booked last year. CFF noted, “The quarter was primarily attributed to our refining of our order fulfilment procedures”.
Cost of sales rose by 19% to $75.55 million compared to 2017’s total of $63.25 million for the first quarter.
This resulted in gross profit increasing by 23%, to $44.59 million, relative to $36.34 million for last year. According to management, “The company expects that there will be improvements in our performance in the next reporting period as we expect sales of ‘Flavorfit’, our sugar reduction solution to gain traction. We will continue with the refinement of our strategies and the improvement to our various cost structures in order to drive the desired efficiency whilst improving cost of sales and gross profit.”
Administrative Expenses increased 21% to $23.58 million (2017: $19.47 million), while Selling and Distribution Costs decreased by $228,000 to $758,000 (2017: $986,000) for 2018.
Net Finance increased grew to $5.03 million in 2018 from $2.12 million for the same period of 2017.
Profit before taxation totalled $25.28 million (2017: $18.00 million), an increase of 40%. No taxation was booked for the period under review.
Earnings per share for the first three months ended September 30, 2018 amounted to $0.28 (2017: $0.20). the twelve months trailing EPS is $1.05. The number of shares used in the calculation was 89,920,033 units. CFF closed the trading period on November 14, 2018 at a price of $20.00.
According to the management of CFF, “The company will continue with the implementation of Business Plans which are anchored on the pillars of revenue growth and expense management in order to deliver on the desired results.”
Balance Sheet at a glance:
As at September 30, 2018, Total Assets amounted to $461.79 million, $72.75 million more than its balance of $389.04 million a year prior. This increase was driven by a 49% or $65.04 million increase in short term investments to total $196.83 million (2017:$ 131.79 million). However, this was tempered with the decline in the company’s Cash and bank balances by 74% or $69 million to close at $24.56 million (2017: $93.56 million).
Shareholders’ Equity totalled $423.76 million (2017: $348.57 million) with a book value of $4.71 (2017: $3.88).
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