September 21, 2022
Express Catering Limited (ECL), for the three months ended August 31, 2022, revenues rose by 35% for the period to US$4.91 million (2021: US$3.64 million). According to the company, “Total passengers accessing the departure lounge of the Sangster International Airport during the Quarter was just below Six Hundred and Twenty-tree Thousand, or 37.44% higher than the similar period last year when just over Hour Hundred and Thirty-Two Thousand passengers entered the departure lounge.”
Cost of sales (COS) rose by 40% for the period to US$1.74 million (2021: US$1.24 million). Nonetheless, gross profit increased year-on-year for the three-month period by 32%, to US$3.17 million from US$2.40 million in 2021.
Total expenses rose by 19% for the period in review to US$1.98 million, up from US$1.67 million in 2021. This increase was associated with a 24% increase in administrative expenses from US$993,374 in 2021 to US$1.23 million in 2022. Depreciation and Amortization remained unchanged at US$678,444 while Promotional expenses amounted to US$71,631 (US$1,314).
Consequently, operating profit for the first quarter amounted to US$1.19 million versus operating profit of US$728,498 recorded in the same period last year.
Finance cost of US$522,130 (US$514,646) was booked for the period. Foreign exchange loss amounted to US$15,464 for the period. This resulted in a total comprehensive income of US$652,841 compared to total comprehensive income of US$565,068 booked in the corresponding period for 2021.
The twelve-month trailing earnings-per-share was US 0.0723 cents. While for Q1 2022, the EPS amounted to US 0.040 cents (2021: US 0.035 cents). The number of shares used in our calculations was 1,637,500,000 units. Notably, ECL closed the trading period on September 20, 2022, at a price of J$5.54 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 50.52 times.
ECL notes, “Construction work on the revamp post-security food and beverage lounge at the airport is ongoing. An additional US$298,424 was spent on the project during the Quarter.”
Balance Sheet Highlights:
The company, as at August 31, 2022, recorded total assets of US$41.22 million compared to US$40.50 million as at August 2021. This was mainly as a result of a significant increase in ‘Assets due from related companies’ from US$8.80 million in 2021 to US$11.67 million in 2022.
Total Stockholders’ equity as at August 31, 2022 closed at US$4 million (2021: US$2.81 million) This resulted in a book value of US 0.24 cents (2021: US 0.17 cents).
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