April 15, 2024
Knutsford Express Services Limited (KEX) for the nine months ended February 29, 2024, reported a 19% increase in Revenue totaling $1.53 billion compared to $1.28 billion in the corresponding period last year. Revenue for the third quarter had a 21% increase to close at $565.60 million compared to $467.87 million for the comparable quarter of 2023.
Administrative and General Expenses amounted to $1.20 billion (2023: $1.00 billion), this represents an increase of 20% year over year. Consequently, gross profit increased by 19% to $329.48 million compared to $277.97 million in 2023. The company booked gross profit of $131.94 million for the third quarter versus $90.41 million reported for the similar quarter of 2023.
Finance Income increased by 246% to close at $15.16 million (2023: $4.38 million), while Finance costs decreased by 6% from $46.91 million in 2023 to $44.05 million in the period under review. As a result, profit before taxation for the nine months amounted to $300.58 million, a 28% increase relative to $235.44 million reported in 2023.
Taxation charge for the nine months amounted to $31.93 million, a 33% increase relative to $24.06 million reported in 2023. Taxation charges for the third quarter amounted to $12.95 million (2023: $5.87 million).
Net Profit totalled $268.65 million, a 27% increase from the corresponding period last year. (2023: $211.39 million). For the third quarter, net profit was $110.80 million (2023: $68.28 million).
Consequently, Earnings Per Share for the nine months amounted to $0.54 (2023: EPS: $0.42), while Earnings Per Share for the quarter totaled $0.22 (2023: EPS: $0.14). The twelve-month trailing EPS was $0.72, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 500,000,015.
Notably, KEX’s stock price closed the trading period on April 15, 2024, at a price of $11.49 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 15.89x.
Balance Sheet Highlights
The company’s assets totalled $1.93 billion (2023: $1.63 billion). This resulted from a 26% increase in ‘Property, plant and equipment’ closing at $653.34 million. KEX highlighted the growth in assets encapsulates a robust quarter with the contributions of our investment in the Drax Hall Business Centre and an expanded fleet of coaches.
Shareholder’s equity was $1.26 billion (2023: $962.49 million), representing a book value per share of $2.52 (2023: $1.92).
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