May 4, 2020
Productive Business Solutions Limited (PBS) for the year ending December 31, 2019, reported a marginal increase of 0.45% in revenues from US$179.29 million in 2018 to US$180.10 million in 2019. For the quarter, revenues decreased 11% to total US$47.90 million relative to US$53.82 million the prior corresponding quarter.
Direct expenses increased 4% to close the period at US$108.25 million when compared to US$104.23 million for the same period of 2018. Direct expenses for the quarter amounted to US$34.12 million (2018: US$32.30 million).
As such, gross profit for the year decreased 4% to US$71.86 million (2018: US$75.07 million). Gross profit for the quarter amounted to US$13.78 million (2018: US$21.52 million).
Other income declined 45% to close at US$770,000 relative to US$1.40 million in 2018 while impairment losses amounted to US$591,000 (2018: $194,000).
Selling, general and administrative expenses amounted to US$60.49 million (2018: US$64.51 million), a 6% decrease. As such, operating profit decreased 2% for the period to total US$11.55 million relative to the US$11.76 million in 2018. Operating profit for the quarter totaled US$3.88 million, a 41% decrease on the US$6.60 million reported in the same quarter of 2018.
Finance costs decreased to total US$7.51 million relative to US$9.15 million in 2018. Management noted that this was, “primarily due to the refinancing of our bond”. As such, profit before taxation amounted to US$4.04 million, 55% increase on US$2.61 million reported in 2018.
After taxation of US$1.96 million (2018: US$2.48 million), the company reported a net profit of US$2.09 million, an increase from US$134,000 in 2018. Net profit for the quarter amounted to US$2 million, a 36% increase on the US$1.47 million reported in the corresponding quarter of 2018.
Net profit attributable to shareholders for the period under review amounted US$1.80 million (2018: US$69,000), while for the quarter, net profit attributable to shareholders closed at US$2 million (2018: US$1.47 million).
As such, total comprehensive income amounted to US$2.42 million relative to a loss of US$2.32 million booked in 2018. For the quarter, total comprehensive income closed at US$2.20 million (2018: US$756,000). Management noted, “Profitability increased significantly year over year driven by margin improvements as a result of increased sales of higher end service-oriented products”.
For the period, the company reported earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.0146 (EPS 2018: US$0.00056). The earnings per share for the quarter amounted to US$0.02 (EPS 2018: US$0.01). The total number of shares employed in our calculations amounted to 123,272,727 units. The stock price closed trading on May 01, 2020 at US$0.77.
Management noted that, “In 2020 we look forward to building on our base of high-quality recurring revenues by executing on several new projects across our printing, information technology, professional services, networking and advanced services business lines.”
Balance Sheet at a glance:
As at December 31, 2019, PBS had total assets totaling US$179.41 million (2018: US$167.04 million) which represents an increase of 7%. This movement was mainly attributed to a 13% and 636% growth in ‘Property, Plant, and Equipment’ and ‘Contracted assets’ respectively to US$25.52 million (2018: US$22.66 million) and US$6.08 million (2018: US$826,000), respectively.
Shareholders Equity amounted to US$35.21 million (2018: US$35.08 million) with a book value per share of US$0.29 (2018: US$0.29)
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