April 09, 2018
Main Event Entertainment Group (MEEG) Annual General Meeting was held today, at the Knutsford Court Hotel. Opening remarks were made by Mr. Harriat Maragh, MEEG’s Chairman, where he highlighted the achievement of the Company thus far; as today marks their first AGM as a publicly listed company on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Attention was then given to Dr. Ian Blair, MEEG’s Independent Non-Executive Director where he reiterated some of the financial highlights for the financial year ended October 31, 2017. With respect to MEEG’s performance, Dr. Blair outlined that the Company’s net profit grew to total $101.05 million relative to the $56.50 million recorded in 2016 resulting in earnings per share of $0.34 (2016:$0.19) and a book value of $1.46.
In addition, he elaborated that with the proceeds from the IPO along with their own internal funding; the company was able to generate Return on Equity of 22.64% (2016: 23.32%) and Return on Assets of 14.06%. Notably, for the first quarter ended January 31, 2018, Dr. Blair emphasized the company returned a 40% increase in net profit year on year highlighting the company has become more efficient in reducing cost while continuing on the same projectory.
Dr. Blair also highlighted that the Initial Public Offering (IPO) was a major highlight for the 2017 financial year having listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) in February 2017 and that in turn resulted in a number of milestones:
- Becoming the first event management company listed on the exchange.
- Being the first IPO on the JSE Junior Market following the restoration of the tax incentive under the change of Political Administration.
- Becoming the first stock in recent history to double in price. The stock opened on February 7th at $2 and closed on February 10th at $4.09. The stock ended the financial year at $5.62, 181% higher than the IPO’s price.
Future Outlook
Mr. Soloman Sharpe, MEEG’s Chief Executive Officer, provided the future outlook for the company. He highlighted Carnival in Jamaica was at its best this year 2018 and is expected to grow even more allowing MEEG to grow accordingly. Importantly, Mr. Sharpe noted the company does not rely solely on the ‘Party Goers’ to move forward but in fact has established grounds with the corporate world as corporate Companies have now opened their doors, allowing MEEG to create that “Consumer Immersive Experience” for them.
MEEG intends on executing two major expansions for the upcoming financial year:
- Mstyle and Showroom– through Mstyle, MEEG will provide the full experience for their customers’ providing the full package; eliminating their need to rely on third parties, for example providing furniture. The company has purchased a 100 sq.ft. property in Kingston with the intention of launching this showroom.
- West Expansion – MEEG is currently building a relationship with Chukka Tours and aims to secure more relationships within the Western hemisphere of Jamaica and possibly international in the late future.
As a growing and responsible company, Mr. Sharpe concluded it’s important for MEEG to help fellow Jamaicans. Throughout the last financial year, the company participated in a number of charitable initiatives, some of which were:
- Father Ho Lung and Friends
- Jamaica Fire Brigade Fire Safety Awareness Week
- Association of Surgeons Charity Concert
- Miss Kitty Blood Drive
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