September 14, 2022
The Limners and Bards Limited (LAB), for the nine months ended July 31, 2022, reported a 18% increase in revenues to $1.11 billion (2021: $942.02 million). Revenues for the quarter rose by 2% to $329.61 million (2021: $322.94 million).
Cost of operating revenue rose by 11% for the period to $731.34 million (2021: $657.22 million). Consequently, gross profit for the period rose by 33% closing at $379.97 million (2021: $284.80 million). For the quarter, gross profit increased 28% to $105.14 million (2021: $82.33 million).
The Company reported a 45% increase in administration expenses to $227.18 million (2021: $157.08 million). Selling and distribution expense increased by 27% to $683,783 (2021: $536,986). For the quarter, the Company reported increase of 41% and 486% in administration and selling and distribution expenses which closed at $80.46 million (2021: $57.11 million) and $46,970 (2021: $8,015) respectively.
Consequently, profit before net finance cost and taxation rose by 21% to $153.49 million (2021: $127.18 million).
Net finance cost amounted to $10.02 million (2021: $14.91 million). This consisted of finance income of $2.95 million (2021: $20.53 million) and finance cost of $12.98 million (2021: $5.62 million).
LAB booked a loss in value of investment classified as FVTPL of $21,490 (2021: gain of $91,331).
Profit before taxation amounted to $143.45 million (2021: $142.18 million). There was a tax credit of $857,350 for the period (2021: nil). As such, net profit for the nine months grew marginally to $144.30 million (2021: $142.18 million). Net profit for the quarter was reported at $21.19 million compared to $28.62 million booked in the corresponding quarter of 2021.
Earnings per share (EPS) remained stable at $0.15 for the nine months relative to 2021, while for the quarter, EPS amounted to $0.02 (2021: $0.03). The twelve months trailing EPS amounted to $0.17. The number of shares used in our calculations is 945,690,252 units. Notably, LAB’s stock price closed the trading period on September 14, 2022 at a price of $2.79 with a corresponding P/E of 16.73 times.
Balance Sheet Highlights:
As at July 31, 2022, the Company reported total assets of $992.73 million, a 20% rise when compared to $826.96 million a year ago. This was mainly as a result of ‘Accounts Receivable’ which closed at $449.29 million (2021: $183.70 million).
Shareholders’ Equity as at July 31, 2022 was $574.53 million compared to $536.42 million a year ago. This resulted in a book value per share of $0.61 (2021: $0.57).
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