February 15, 2024

Medical Disposables and Supplies Limited (MDS) for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, reported a 3% decrease in revenue totalling $2.69 billion compared to $2.76 billion in the corresponding period last year. Revenue for the third quarter had a 4% decrease to close at $900.47 million compared to $940.54 million for the comparable quarter of 2022.

Cost of sales amounted to $2.03 billion (2022: $2.01 billion), this represents an increase of 1% year over year. Consequently, gross profit decreased by 11% to $666.83 million compared to $753.23 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2022. The company booked gross profit of $212.34 million for the third quarter versus $272.86 million reported for the similar quarter of 2022.

Total operating costs for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $628.79 million, a 7% increase relative to $585.05 million reported in 2022. This was primarily due to administrative expenses, which increased by 7% to close at $353.68 million (2022: $330.05 million), followed by selling and promotional costs, which increased by 7% from $235.55 million in 2022 to $252.03 million in the period under review.

Operating profit for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $38.04 million, a 77% decrease relative to $168.18 million reported in 2022. Operating loss for the third quarter amounted to $767,768 relative to an operating profit of $74.17 million booked in 2022.

Finance income totalled $101,312, a 96% decrease from the corresponding period last year (2022: $2.25 million), while finance costs totalled $125.12 million, a 49% increase from the corresponding period last year (2022: $84.14 million).

Loss before tax for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $88.73 million relative to a profit before tax of $82.18 million reported in 2022. Loss before tax for the third quarter amounted to $50.16 million (2022: profit of $38.35 million).

Taxation credit for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $181,742 (2022: charge of $14.38 million).

Loss for the nine months amounted to $88.55 million relative to a profit of $67.81 million reported in 2022. For the third quarter, loss amounted to $50.16 million (2022: profit of $31.96 million). Loss attributable to shareholders for the nine months amounted to $85.68 million relative to a profit attributable to shareholders of $57.96 million in 2022. For the third quarter, loss attributable to shareholders was $48.47 million (2022: profit of $28.12 million).

Loss per share (LPS) for the nine months amounted to $0.33 (2022: EPS of $0.22), while LPS for the quarter totalled $0.18 (2022: EPS of $0.11). The twelve-month trailing LPS was $0.27, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 263,157,895.

Notably, MDS’s stock price closed the trading period on February 13, 2024, at a price of $2.53.

Balance Sheet Highlights:

The company’s assets totalled $2.97 billion; a 2% increase from $2.91 billion booked in 2022. This was largely due to a 19% increase in trade and other receivables, tempered by a 6% decline in inventories.

Shareholder’s equity was $975.54 million (2022: $1.04 billion), representing a book value per share of $3.71 (2022: $3.96).

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