November 11, 2021

FIRSTROCK Capital Holdings Group (FIRSTROCK), for the nine months ended September 30 2021, recorded total investment income of US$4.54 million (2020: US$4.80 million). Of this,

• Rental income amounted to US$253,664 (2020: US$324,971).
• Realised and unrealised gains on investments totalled US$3.16 million versus US$3.37 million reported in 2020.
• Interest income closed at US$728,263 (2020: US$1.06 million) for the period under review.
• Foreign exchange losses amounted to US$294,932 (2020: US$300,691).
• Gain on acquisition of subsidiary totalled US$553,000 (2020: US$188,843).
• Other income for the nine months amounted to US$137,437 (2020: US$153,356).

As for the third quarter the Company booked a total investment income of US$1.80 million compared to US$2.04 million booked for the corresponding period.

Total operating expenses amounted to US$2.64 million (2020: US$2.42 million). Of this,

• Administrative and general expenses closed at US$2.24 million (2020: US$1.98 million), a 13% increase relative to the corresponding period in 2020.
• Depreciation rose by 161% to total US$54,995 (2020: US$21,109).
• Preference dividend amounted to US$152,475 (2020: US$296,702).
• Allowance for credit losses closed at US$192,759 (2020: US$116,002)

While for the quarter, FIRSTROCK total operating expenses closed at US$1.08 million (2020: US$892,062).

As such, profit before taxation closed at US$1.90 million (2020: US$2.38 million). Taxation credit amounted to US$2,581 relative to the charge of US$13,346 a year prior. This resulted in net profit of US$1.90 million (2020: US$2.37 million) for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Profit attributable to shareholders amounted to US$1.88 million (2020: US$2.40 million). Profit attributable to shareholders for the quarter amounted to US$700,882 (2020: US$1.15 million).

Furthermore, total comprehensive income amounted to US$2.11 million (2020: US$2.37 million). While for the quarter, total comprehensive income closed at US$715,682 (2020: $1.14 million).

Consequently, earnings per share (EPS) amounted to US$0.0066 (2020: US$0.0084) for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Earnings per share for the quarter amounted to US$0.0025 (2020: US$0.0040). The trailing twelve months EPS amounts to US$0.0074. The number of shares used in this calculation was 286,025,318 shares. FIRSTROCKJMD closed the trading period on November 10, 2021 at J$10.85 while FIRSTROCKUSD closed at US$0.0700 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 9.89 times.

FIRSTROCK noted, “As we assess our strategies for the remainder of the year, we will continue to execute multi-jurisdictional asset allocation as it has proven to be a key feature of our risk-management strategy. We also intend to expand our presence within our domiciled country, St. Lucia.”

Balance Sheet at a Glance:

As at September 30, 2021, total assets closed at US$40.94 million (2020: US$35.16 million). This increase is primarily due to ‘Property Inventory’ which amounted to US$8.50 million (2020: nil). ‘Investment properties held for sale’ also contributed to the increase which closed at US$3.45 million (2020: nil).

Shareholder’s equity totalled US$31.67 million (2020: US$29.76 million) resulting in a book value of US$0.11 (2020: US$0.10).

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