The Limners and Bards Limited (LAB)

Unaudited financials for the nine months ended July 31, 2024:

The Limners and Bards Limited (LAB) for the nine months ended July 31, 2024, reported an 18% decrease in Operating revenue totaling $752.80 million compared to $913.50 million in the corresponding period last year. Operating revenue for the third quarter also had an 18% decrease to close at $307.20 million compared to $374.35 million for the comparable quarter of 2023.

Cost of operating revenue amounted to $468.26 million (2023: $598.72 million), this represents a decrease of 22% year over year. Consequently, gross profit decreased by 10% to $284.54 million compared to $314.78 million for the nine months ended July 31, 2023. The company booked gross profit of $104.13 million for the third quarter versus $122.14 million reported for the similar quarter of 2023.

Selling and distribution expenses decreased by 50% to close at $1.23 million (2023: $2.48 million), while administrative expenses decreased by 18% from $255.87 million in 2023 to $209.61 million in the period under review. As a result, total operating expenses for the nine months ended July 31, 2024, amounted to $210.84 million, an 18% decrease relative to $258.35 million reported in 2023.

Profit before net finance cost and taxation for the nine months ended July 31, 2024, amounted to $76.06 million, a 35% increase relative to $56.43 million reported in 2023. Profit before net finance cost and taxation for the third quarter amounted to $29.89 million (2023: $34.10 million). Net finance income totalled $7.37 million, increasing from the corresponding period last year. (2023: cost of $8,901).

Profit before taxation for the nine months ended July 31, 2024, amounted to $83.45 million, a 48% increase relative to $56.38 million reported in 2023. Profit before taxation for the third quarter amounted to $34.11 million (2023: $36.52 million).

Tax credit for the nine months ended July 31, 2024, had a 76% decrease to reach $141,425 (2023: $593,994) . Net profit for the nine months amounted to $83.59 million, a 47% increase from the $56.97 million reported in 2023. For the third quarter, Net profit was $34.13 million (2023: $36.68 million).

Consequently, Earnings Per Share for the nine months amounted to $0.09 (2023: EPS: $0.06), while Earnings Per Share for the quarter totaled $0.04 (2023: EPS: $0.04). The twelve-month trailing EPS was $0.09, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 945,690,252.

Notably, LAB’s stock price closed the trading period on September 15, 2024, at a price of $1.41 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 15.89x.

Balance Sheet Highlights

The company’s assets totalled $1.10 billion (2023: $941.22 million). This increase was attributable to ‘Content Asset’ which amounted to $75.43 million for the nine months of 2024. Additionally, ‘Property, Plant and Equipment’ also contributed to the rise in total assets equating to $92.39 million for the nine months ended July 31, 2024 (2023: $60.08 million).

Shareholder’s equity was $681.46 million (2023: $597.53 million), representing a book value per share of $0.72 (2023: $0.63).

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