May 31, 2022
Lasco Financial Services Limited (LASF), recorded trading income of $2.43 billion, this represents an increase of 9% when compared to $2.22 billion posted at the end of 2021 while trading income for the fourth quarter amounted to $675.45 million (2021: $543.15 million).
Other income increased by 15% to $86.69 million versus $75.09 million in 2021. This resulted in overall income of $2.51 billion, a growth of 10% when compared to $2.29 billion for the corresponding period in 2021. For the fourth quarter, total income closed at $673.78 million (2021: $605.21 million).
Operating expenses amounted to $1.851 billion, relatively unchanged when compared to $1.845 billion booked in the year prior. Of this:
- Administrative costs closed at $1.10 billion (2021: $1.08 billion) at end of March 2022.
- Selling and promotional costs amounted to $746.99 million (2021: $765.82 million) at the end of the 2022 financial year.
Consequently, due to the increase in total income, profit from operations increased by 48% to total $659.98 million relative to the $447.43 million booked last year. As for the quarter, LASF booked a profit from operations of $138.41 million, up from $56.97 million recorded at the end of 2021.
Finance costs decreased to $166.90 million (2021: $187.05 million), resulting in a profit before tax of $493.08 million, 89% up from $260.38 million booked at the end 2021. For the quarter, profit before tax closed at $94.92 million relative to a profit of $10.88 million documented twelve months earlier.
Taxes for the period amounted to $186.63 million (2021: $103.63 million). Net profit closed the period under review at $306.45 million, up from $156.75 million posted the same period last year. Net profit for the quarter amounted to $42.81 million relative to 2021 fourth quarter net profit of $2.84 million.
Earnings per share amounted to $0.24 (2021 EPS: $0.12), while for the quarter, EPS closed at $0.033 (2021 EPS: $0.002). The number of shares used in our calculations amounted to 1,280,227,726 units. LASF closed the trading period on May 31, 2022, at $3.30 with a corresponding P/E of 13.79 times.
Balance Sheet Highlights:
As at March 31, 2022, the Company’s total assets closed the period at $4.66 billion, 8% more than its value of $4.30 billion a year ago. This increase was largely due to ‘Receivables’ and ‘Short term Deposits’ which closed at $2.02 billion (2021: $1.64 billion) and $428.08 million (2021: $312.76 million), respectively. However, these were tempered by a decline in ‘Cash and Cash Equivalents’ by $99.04 million to $961.52 million (2021: $1.06 billion).
Shareholders’ equity attributable to stockholders of the Company amounted to $1.96 billion relative to $1.70 billion booked in 2021. This translates to a book value per share of $1.53 (2021: $1.33).
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