May 15, 2023
Fontana Limited (FTNA) for the nine months ended March 31, 2023, recorded an 18% increase in revenues to total $5.50 billion compared to $4.68 billion for the same period in 2022. The Company’s revenue for the third quarter rose 13% to $1.72 billion (2022: $1.52 billion).
Cost of Sales for the period increased 15% to closed at $3.47 billion, up from $3.01 billion reported the prior year’s comparable period, while for the third quarter there was a 10% uptick to $1.11 billion (2022: $1.01 million).
As such, gross profit for the nine months amounted to $2.03 billion, a 22% uptick when compared to $1.66 billion recorded last year. Dor the quarter, gross profit climbed 20% from $503.01 million booked in the third quarter of 2022 to $603.78 million for the corresponding period in 2023.
Fontana’s administrative expenses rose by 26% for the period, to total $1.33 billion versus $1.01 billion in 2022, while selling and promotion closed the nine months at $80.98 million (2022: $49.89 million). FTNA noted, “ Staff costs continue to have a major impact on operating expenses. With the rollout of our new point of sales system, there has been an increase in support and maintenance costs over last year.”
As such, operating profit experienced an 11% uptick to $615.66 million relative to $556.48 million booked in the same period last year. Operating profit for the third quarter closed at $144.67 million (2022: $132.62 million).
This resulted in profit before taxation totalling $557.80 million compared to $414.54 million recorded last year, a 35% year-over-year increase. For the quarter profit before taxation moved from $104.58 million in 2022 to $146.41 million in 2023, a surge of 40% year over year.
There were no income taxes for the period under review, as such, net profit increased by 35% to close the period under review at $557.80 million relative to $414.54 million recorded in the prior corresponding period. Net profit for the quarter amounted to $146.41 million compared to $104.58 million booked for the prior quarter of 2022.
Earnings per share (EPS) for the period totalled $0.45 (2022: $0.33). EPS for the third quarter amounted to $0.12 (2022: $0.08). The twelve months trailing earnings per share amounted to $0.60. The number of shares used in our calculations amounted to 1,249,374,825 units. FTNA’s stock price closed the trading period on May 12, 2023, at $8.70 with a corresponding P/E of 14.50 times.
Balance Sheet at a Glance:
As at March 31, 2023, total assets amounted to $5.04 billion, up $577.59 million from $4.46 billion in the previous year. The increase in total assets was as a result of the increase in ‘Inventories’ and ‘Trade and other receivables’ which closed the period with $1.38 billion (2022: $1.01 billion) and $366.19 million (2022: $158.10 million), respectively.
Shareholders’ Equity of $2.59 billion was reported (2022: $2.09 billion) which resulted in a book value per share of $2.08 (2022: $1.68).
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