November 13, 2023

Radio Jamaica Limited (RJR) for the six months ended September 30, 2023, reported a negligible decline in Revenue totaling $2.73 billion compared to $2.74 billion in the corresponding period last year. Revenue for the second quarter had a 1% decrease to close at $1.43 billion compared to $1.44 billion for the comparable quarter of 2022.

RJR noted that the decline in revenue was driven mainly by decreases in the Print and Other segment and which was partially offset by increases in the Audio/Visual and Audio segments. Additionally, “the industry and the Group continued to experience softness in the overall advertising market.”

Direct expenses amounted to $1.23 billion (2022: $1.22 billion), this represents an increase of 1% year over year. “The increase was mainly due to the airing of the Women’s World Cup, as well as other costs arising from increased activities that did not get full revenue support but were considered good investments in our brands”, according to RJR.

Consequently, gross profit decreased by 1% to $1.50 billion compared to $1.52 billion for the six months ended September 30, 2022. The company booked gross profit of $760.62 million for the second quarter versus $812.05 million reported for the similar quarter of 2022.

Administration expenses increased by 10% to close at $788.24 million (2022: $718.12 million), while Selling expenses decreased by 1% from $527.87 million in 2022 to $524.81 million in the period under review. As a result, total expenses for the six months amounted to $1.71 billion, a 3% increase relative to $1.65 billion reported in 2022.

Operating loss for the six months amounted to $101.50 million relative to an operating loss of $34.69 million reported in 2022. Operating loss for the second quarter amounted to $70.12 million (2022: profit of $3.32 million). Finance Costs totalled $22.72 million, an 11% decrease from the corresponding period last year. (2022: $25.43 million).

Loss before taxation for the six months amounted to $124.22 million, relative to a loss before taxation of $60.12 million reported in 2022. Loss before taxation for the second quarter amounted to $79.47 million (2022: $9.41 million).

Tax Credit for the six months had a 175% increase to reach $21.59 million (2022: $7.85 million). Net loss for the six months amounted to $102.63 million relative to a net loss of $52.27 million reported in 2022. For the second quarter, Net loss was $64.78 million (2022: Net loss of $12.43 million).

Net loss attributable to shareholders for the six-month period was $102.68 million, relative to $56.02 million recorded in 2022.

Consequently, Loss Per Share for the six months amounted to $0.034 (2022: LPS: $0.022), while Loss Per Share for the quarter totaled $0.021 (2022: LPS: $0.005). The twelve-month trailing EPS was $0.05, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 3,023,506,931.

Notably, RJR’s stock price closed the trading period on November 13, 2023, at a price of $1.40 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 28.25x.

Balance Sheet Highlights

The company’s assets totalled $6.81 billion (2022: $4.87 billion). The increase was mainly due to a 59% rise in fixed assets closing at $3.18 billion.

Shareholder’s equity was $4.47 billion (2022: $2.68 billion), representing a book value per share of $1.48 (2022: $1.11).

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