January 29, 2021
QWI Investments Limited (QWI)
Unaudited Financial Statements for the First Quarter Ended December 31, 2020:
QWI recorded Gains from investment activities of $132.43 million for the period ended December 31, 2020, relative to the $92.60 million loss from investment activities reported for the corresponding period in 2019. The company noted, “During this quarter, the Company took advantage of the favourable conditions in the USA and realized gains of $34.5 million. The US portfolio produced an additional $33 million of unrealized gains and the Jamaican portfolio produced $64 million of unrealized gains.”
Dividend and interest income closed the period under review at $10.36 million (2019: $7.66 million). While, unrealized currency loss amounted to $10.73 million versus $21.20 million in the prior comparable period.
Administrative expenses for the period amounted to $10.62 million, 16% up from the $9.14 million reported twelve months prior. Interest expense totaled $5.40 million (2019: $5.72 million).
Consequently, QWI ended the period with a profit before taxation of $116.03 million, relative to loss before taxation of $120.99 million reported in December 2019.
For the quarter, the Company recognized a tax charge of $24.29 million versus a tax credit of $26.51 million a year ago. As such, net profit for the period totaled $91.74 million compared to a net loss of $94.48 million twelve months earlier.
Earnings per share for the period amounted to $0.07, compared to Loss per share (LPS) of $0.07 reported in December 2019. The trailing twelve months LPS is $0.15. The total shares outstanding used for this calculation is 1,365,000,015. Additionally, QWI closed the trading the period on January 28, 2021 at a price of $0.87.
Management noted, “The Company’s portfolio is reviewed on an on-going basis with changes effected by the addition or disposal of investments as the Investment Committee believes will be advantageous to QWI. While we cannot say with any degree of certainty, there are signs that our holdings will perform well over the current fiscal year.”
Balance Sheet Highlights:
As at December 31, 2020, total assets closed at $1.81 billion, 13% down from the $2.08 billion reported as at December 31, 2019. This was mainly attributable to a 100% reduction in ‘Cash and cash equivalent’ which totaled $183,914 relative to the $116.15 million a year prior. ‘Due from brokers and receivables’ and ‘Quoted local investments’ also fell by 90% and 22% respectively.
The total equity as at December 31, 2020, amounted to $1.57 billion (2019: $1.77 billion). This resulted in a book value per share of $1.15 (2019: $1.30).
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