June 15, 2021
The Limners and Bards Limited (LAB), for the six months ended April 30, 2021, reported 31% increase in revenues to close at $619.08 million versus $471.42 million booked in 2020. Revenues for the second quarter rose by 26% to $262.81 million (2020: $208.42 million). The LAB stated that, “the revenue growth was driven by growth in media (up $43.5 million or 18%) and production (up $106.7 million or 83%). There was reduction in agency (down $2.5 million or 2%) during the period.”
Cost of operating revenue rose by 36% for the six months period to $416.61 million (2020: $305.74 million). Consequently, gross profit for the period rose by 22% closing at $202.47 million compared to $165.68 million for the same period last year. For the quarter, gross profit increased 16% to $87.29 million (2020: $75.03 million).
Total expenses for the six months ended April 30, 2021 amounted to $100.50 million relative to $78.53 million the same period last year. Of this, the Company reported a 29% increase in administration expenses to $100.49 million (2020: $78.13 million). “These increases are primarily attributable to staff costs (due to increase work volume), repairs and maintenance of production equipment and depreciation and amortization charges. Even with this increase, administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue remains relatively flat at 16.2% compared to 16.7% in the previous period,” as per Management. Whereas, selling and distribution expenses amounted to $15,476 (2020: $397,129) for the six months ended April 30, 2021. For the second quarter, total expenses summed to $47.33 million (2020: $37.07 million).
Consequently, profit before net finance cost and taxation rose by 17% to $101.96 million (2020: $87.15 million).
Net finance costs declined to $11.47 million compared to net finance cost of $244,436 million for the same period in the prior year.
Gain in value of investments classified as FVTPL totalled $123,566, relative to a loss of $236,385 booked in 2020.
Profit before taxation amounted to $113.56 million (2020: $86.67 million). There was no taxation (2020: nil) for the period under review. As such, net profit for the six months grew by 31% to $113.56 million (2020: $86.67 million). Net profit for the quarter was reported at $46.54 million compared to $37.76 million booked in the corresponding quarter of 2020.
Earnings per share (EPS) for the six months amounted to $0.12 compared to $0.09 in 2020, while for the quarter EPS amounted to $0.05 versus $0.04 documented in the prior comparable quarter. The twelve months trailing EPS amounted to $0.16. The number of shares used in our calculations is 945,690,252 units. Notably, LAB’s stock price closed the trading period on June 14, 2021 at a price of $3.04 with a corresponding P/E of 18.67 times.
Balance Sheet Highlights:
As at April 30, 2021, the Company reported total assets of $714.83 million, a 19% rise when compared to $598.85 million a year ago. This was as a result of ‘Accounts Receivable’ which closed at $195.96 million (2020: $118.87 million), reflecting an increase of $77.09 million.
Shareholders’ equity as at April 30, 2021 was $507.81 million compared to $423.82 million a year ago. This resulted in a book value per share of $0.54 compared to $0.45 in 2020.
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