January 15, 2024
Sygnus Real Estate Finance Limited (SRFJMD) for the first quarter ended November 30, 2023, reported a 42% decrease in interest income totalling $43.83 million compared to $74.93 million in the corresponding three months last year.
Interest expense amounted to $85.01 million (2022: $62.00 million), this represents an increase of 37% year over year. Consequently, the company made a net interest loss of $41.18 million compared to net interest income of $12.93 million for the first quarter ended November 30, 2022.
“For the three months ended November 30, 2023, SRF reported a fair value loss of J$7.83 million compared to a loss of J$23.39 million last year.”
“Net foreign exchange losses were J$10.26 million for the three months ended November 30, 2023, compared to a loss of J$66.74 million last year.”
Operating expenses for the first quarter amounted to $83.92 million, a 19% decrease relative to $103.70 million reported in 2022. This was due to largely to management fees, which decreased by 53% to close at $32.59 million (2022: $68.63 million), followed by corporate service fees, which decreased by 4% from $11.55 million in 2022 to $11.14 million for the three months ended November 30, 2023. However, a 71% increase was realized in other expenses, which amounted to $40.19 million (2022: $23.52 million).
Operating loss for the three months was $132.68 million, a 23% decrease relative to the loss of $172.64 million reported in 2022. Share of loss of joint venture totalled $303,000 compared to share of profit of joint venture of $146,000 in the corresponding period last year. Management noted that this loss was driven by audit fees and foreign exchange losses recorded during the period by Monadh Rois Holdings Limited.
Loss before taxation for the first quarter ended November 30, 2023, amounted to $132.98 million, a 23% decrease relative to the loss of $172.50 million reported in 2022.
There were no taxation charges for the three months (2022: nil). Hence, loss for three months amounted to $132.98 million, a 23% decrease from the $172.50 million reported in 2022.
Loss per share (LPS) for the three months amounted to $0.71 (2022: $0.92). The twelve-month trailing EPS was $1.34, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 187,392,532. Notably, SRFJMD’s stock price closed the trading period on January 15, 2024, at a price of $10.20 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 7.62x.
Balance Sheet Highlights:
The company’s assets totalled $15.19 billion (2022: $14.54 billion). The increase in the company’s asset base was primarily due to asset held for sale, which amounted to $1.11 billion (2022: nil) tempered by a 30% decline in investments, which totalled $1.85 billion (2022: $2.63 billion).
Shareholder’s equity was $7.67 billion (2022: $7.42 billion), representing a book value per share of $40.92 (2022: $39.58).
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