January 18, 2021
Knutsford Express Services Limited (KEX), for the six months ended November 30, 2020, reported total revenue of $271.32 million, a 55% or $335.87 million decrease when compared with the $607.19 million reported for the same period in 2019. For the second quarter, revenues decreased by 47% to close the period at $149.54 million versus $282.67 million in 2019.
Administrative and general expenses fell by 38% to total $327.27 million (2019: $525.94 million). Consequently, the Company reported a gross loss of $55.95 million compared to a profit $81.25 million for the same period a year ago. While, for the quarter, gross loss amounted to $29.52 million relative to a gross profit of $23.87 million booked in 2019.
Finance costs decreased by 42% to $7.35 million for the period under review from $12.75 million for the same period in 2019, while finance income fell to $4.34 million (2019: $4.42 million) in the first six months of 2020.
Loss before taxation amounted to $58.97 million, relative to a profit of $72.92 million reported for the similar period in 2019. There was no tax charge for the period under review, however tax charges of $6.16 million was reported in 2019. Therefore, net loss closed at $58.97 million (2019: net profit $66.76 million). For the second quarter, KEX recorded net loss of $33.79 million relative to net profit of $18.99 million recorded in 2019’s second quarter.
As such, loss per share (LPS) for the second quarter amounted to $0.07, relative to an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.04 booked in 2019, while for the six months the LPS was $0.12 (2019: EPS $0.13). The twelve-month trailing LPS amounted to $0.18. The number of shares used in our calculations is 500,000,015. KEX’s stock price closed the trading period on January 15, 2021 at a price of $6.80.
Balance Sheet at a Glance:
As at November 30, 2020, total assets totalled $1.10 billion, $18.03 million more than the $1.08 billion recorded last year. The increase in total assets was due to increases in ‘Property, Plant and Equipment’ and ‘Right of use asset’ which total $873.31 million (2019: $738.96 million) and $7.31 million (2019: nil) respectively. This was however, offset by a 41% and 30% decrease in ‘Cash and Banks Balances’ and ‘Short term Investments’ to $71.43 million (2019: $121.17 million) and $96.71 million (2019: 138.25 million), respectively.
Shareholder’s equity closed at $710.99 million (2019: $807.06 million). As such, the book value per share was $1.42 (2019: $1.61).
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