January 6, 2025
QWI Investments Limited (QWI) for the first quarter ended December 31, 2024, reported a 41% decrease in dividend and interest income totalling $8.79 million compared to $14.85 million in the corresponding three months last year.
Unrealized currency loss amounted to $241,430 (2023: loss of $1.23 million), this represents a decrease of 80% year over year.
Gains from investment activities decreased by 98% to $886,120 compared to $37.66 million for the first quarter ended December 31, 2023.
Consequently, Total income decreased by 82% to close at $9.43 million (2023: $51.27 million).
Administrative expenses decreased by 43% from $23.39 million in 2023 to $13.39 million for the three months, while Interest expense amounted to $6.02 million, a 19% increase relative to $5.07 million reported in 2023. As a result, Loss before Taxation for the first quarter ended December 31, 2024, amounted to $9.98 million, a 144% decrease relative to profit before taxation of $22.81 million reported in 2023.
Tax credit for the three months amounted to $3.04 million (2023: Tax charge of $4.82 million). As such, Net loss for the three months amounted to $6.93 million, a 139% decrease from net profit of $17.99 million reported in 2023.
QWI highlighted, “The Company achieved an unrealised gain of $6.8 million in its Jamaican portfolio, a significant recovery from the $30.8 million unrealised loss in the same quarter last year. However, this improvement was offset by a reduced realised gain of $6.5 million in the US portfolio compared to a gain of $76 million in the December quarter of 2023. The first quarter was marked by continued gains in the main local market and strong price performance in overseas market.”
Consequently, Loss Per Share for the three months amounted to $0.01 (2023: EPS: $0.01). The twelve-month trailing EPS was $0.07, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 1,365,000,015.
Notably, QWI’s stock price closed the trading period on February 06, 2025, at a price of $0.83 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 11.21x.
Balance Sheet Highlights
The company’s assets totalled $2.16 billion (2023: $2.05 billion). The growth in total assets was primarily driven by a $162.95 million or 27% uptick in ‘Quoted Investments – Overseas’, but was partly offset by a $76.55 million or 5% decline in ‘Quoted Investments – Local’.
Shareholder’s equity was $1.77 billion (2023: $1.70 billion), representing a book value per share of $1.30 (2023: $1.25).
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