May 11, 2021

Jamaican Teas Limited (JAMT) reported a 35% increase in revenues to total $1.22 billion (2020: $906.17 million). For the quarter, revenues amounted to $608.55 million a 29% increase when compared to $473.27 million in the previous corresponding period. Management stated that, “Sales at our supermarket decreased by 11 percent.This was a direct result of operating restrictions on store hours due to longer curfews on the island, as compared with a year ago when at least two months of the quarter were not affected by school closures and other COVID related restrictions.”

Cost of sales rose by 39% to $907.62 million (2020: $650.94 million) for the six months ended March 31, 2021. Consequently, gross profit went up 22% to close at $311.50 million relative to $255.23 million booked for last year’s corresponding period. Gross profit for the quarter closed at $143.52 million (2020: $136.68 million).

Other income for the period amounted to $239.87 million versus other losses of $610.40 million recorded the prior year’s corresponding period. Other income for the quarter closed at $99.42 million compared to other loss of $508.14 million documented for the same period last year.

Sales and marketing cost declined by 31% to $18.27 million for the six months ended March 2021 relative to $26.53 million for the same period of 2020. Administrative expenses went up by 14%, totalling $133.56 million (2020: $117.33 million). For the quarter administrative expenses and sales & marketing costs closed at $70.74 million (2020: $60.86 million) and $9.51 million (2019: $12.73 million), respectively. JAMT mentioned that, “The decrease in sales and marketing expenses for the quarter and half year primarily reflects the curtailment of some of our overseas marketing activities due to COVID related travel restrictions.”

Finance cost for the period under review amounted to $16.68 million (2020: $18.82 million), while for the quarter finance costs closed at $9.60 million versus $8.75 million in the prior year’s corresponding quarter.

Consequently, pretax profit totalled $382.85 million for the period compared to $517.85 million pretax loss in 2020. For the quarter, JAMT recorded a pretax profit of $153.08 million relative to a pre-tax loss: $453.80 million.

JAMT documented a net profit of $291.32 million year to date, relative to a loss of $456.32 million recorded twelve months earlier. For the quarter, net profit closed at $111.48 million (2020 net loss: $411.66 million). Net profit attributable to shareholders for the period under review totalled $198.33 million compared to a loss of $19.19 million in 2020. Net profit attributable to shareholders for the quarter closed at $82.34 million, while in 2020 there was a loss of $46.71 million.

JAMT stated that, “The outlook for manufacturing continues to be positive, with exports continuing to be the star performer. As our shareholders are aware, Jamaica and the rest of the world are still grappling with the effects of COVID-19. While vaccinations have been rolled out, the world has not reached a stage of immunity. Accordingly, we face the future cautiously with the expectation that we will be able to continue our operations without any major interruptions.”

Consequently, earnings per share (EPS) totalled $0.09 compared to loss per share (LPS) of $0.01 for the period ended March 2020. For the quarter, EPS closed at $0.04 (2020: $0.02 LPS). The twelve months earnings per share amounted to $0.21. The numbers of shares used in the calculations are 695,083,459 units. JAMT last traded on May 11, 2021 at $4.08 with a corresponding P/E of 19.73 times.

Balance Sheet Highlights:

As at March 31 2021, the Company total assets amounted to $3.77 billion, an increase of 21% when compared to the $3.12 billion reported as at March 2020. Large contributors of this increase were; ‘Quoted equities and ‘Other Receivables’ which totaled $1.86 billion (2020: $1.41 billion), and $381.48 million (2020: $116.13 million) respectively.

Shareholders’ Equity totalled $1.88 billion as at March 2021 (2020: $1.53 billion), resulting in a book value per share of $0.88 (2020: $0.72).

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