October 15, 2020

Knutsford Express Services Limited (KEX)

Unaudited results for 1^st Quarter ended August 31, 2020:

• Knutsford Express Services Limited (KEX), for the three months ended August 31, 2020 reported total revenue of $121.78 million, a 62% or $202.74 million decrease when compared with the $324.52 million reported for the same period in 2019. KEX stated, “this was brought on by a reduction in the frequency of trips due to travel restrictions.”
• Administrative and general expenses shrunk 45% for the quarter to total $148.22 million (2019: $267.14 million). This resulted in gross loss of $26.43 million for the quarter compared to the gross profit $57.38 million for the same period a year ago.
• Finance costs decreased to $2.96 million for the period from $6.87 million for 2019. In addition, finance income rose from $2.02 million in 2019 to $4.21 million in 2020, this represents an increase of 109%.
• As such Loss before taxation for the period amounted to $25.18 million, relative to profit before taxation of $52.53 million reported in 2019. No taxes were incurred this year as a result of the Junior Market Tax holiday. Consequently, net loss amounted to $25.18 million relative to net profit after tax last year of $47.78 million.
• Loss per share (LPS) for the quarter amounted to $0.05 (2019: EPS of $0.10). The twelve-month trailing LPS amounted to $0.08. The number of shares used in our calculations is 500,000,015. Notably, KEX’s stock price closed the trading period on October 14, 2020 at a price of $6.45.
• KEX added, “This quarter was the worst in our history directly resulting from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our swift and decisive response significantly reduced the drain on our cash resources placing us on a path to return to profitability.”

Balance Sheet at a Glance:

• As at August 31, 2020, assets totaled $1.08 billion, $57 million less than the $1.14 billion recorded last year. The increase in total assets was largely attributable to increases in ‘Property, plant and equipment’ and ‘Rights of use asset’ which closed at $857.08 million (2019: $724.56 million) and $9.31 million (2019: nil), respectively.
• Shareholder’s equity closed at $744.69 million (2019: $827.41 million). As such, the book value per share was $1.49 (2019: $1.65).

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