November 14, 2023
Spur Tree Spices Jamaica Limited (SPURTREE) for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 reported a 59% increase in Turnover totaling $1.07 billion compared to $672.06 million in the corresponding period last year. Turnover for the third quarter had a 73% increase to close at $404.10 million compared to $233.20 million for the comparable quarter of 2022.
Cost of Sales amounted to $765.56 million (2022: $433.80 million), this represents an increase of 76% year over year. Consequently, gross profit increased by 26% to $300.43 million compared to $238.26 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The company booked gross profit of $106.81 million for the third quarter versus $75.03 million reported for the similar quarter of 2022.
Other operating income increased by 269% to close at $5.73 million (2022: $1.56 million), while Administrative and other expenses increased by 78% from $116.65 million in 2022 to $207.75 million in the period under review. As a result, operating profit for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 amounted to $98.42 million, a 19% decrease relative to $122.00 million reported in 2022.
Finance Cost for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, amounted to $31.27 million, a 869% increase relative to $3.23 million reported in 2022. Finance Cost for the third quarter amounted to $10.35 million (2022: $1.02 million). Profit before Tax totalled $67.15 million a 43% decrease from the corresponding period last year. (2022: $118.77 million).
Tax credit for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, amounted to $464,000 relative to taxation of $131,000 reported in 2022. Tax credit for the third quarter amounted to 476,000 (2022: taxation of $151,000).
Net Income for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 had a 43% decrease to reach $67.62 million (2022: $118.64 million) . Total comprehensive income attributable to owners of the company for the nine months amounted to $68.89 million, a 42% decrease from the $118.64 million reported in 2022. For the third quarter, Total comprehensive income attributable to owners of the company was $25.34 million (2022: $29.39 million).
Consequently, Earnings Per Share for the nine months amounted to $0.04 (2022: EPS: $0.07), while Earnings Per Share for the quarter totaled $0.02 (2022: EPS: $0.02). The twelve month trailing EPS was $0.04 and the number of shares used in these calculations was 1,676,959,244.
Notably, SPURTREE’s stock price closed the trading period on November 13, 2023 at a price of $2.19 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 51.64x.
SPURTREE noted “ The company is navigating several factors that are significantly impacting the cost of sales. This surge is primarily due to a combination of increased packaging material costs, which have risen twice within the year. Additionally, the company has been hit by substantial price hikes in raw materials with some inputs surging by as much as 400%.”
Balance Sheet Highlights
The Company, as at September 30, 2022, had total assets of $1.56 billion (2022: $872.10 million). This was primarily due to ‘Property, plant, and equipment’ which increased to $740.63 million (2022: $228.27 million). Receivables also contributed to the overall asset growth valuing $312.00 million (2022: $337.26 million).
Shareholder’s equity was $777.44 million (2022: $739.72 million), representing a book value per share of $0.46 (2022: $0.44).
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