Sales were up 7% to J$2.59 billion compared to the $2.42 billion reported in 2020

Jamaican renewable energy company, Wigton Windfarm ended its financial year in March 2021 with net profits up almost 20 per cent, closing the period at $792.70 million versus $662.75 million booked in the similar period in 2020.

Net profit closed the fourth quarter at $201.05 million, up from the net profit of $137.12 million booked in March 2020. Wigton’s pre-tax profit jumped 18 per cent, closing the year at $1.03 billion, which is up from the 2020 posting of $868.57 million.

Taxation for the year was $234.31 million, up from the $205.82 million booked in 2020. Total comprehensive income amounted to $789.38 million, up from $664.02 million. For the quarter, total comprehensive income closed at $197.73 million (2020 income: $138.39 million).

For the year ended March 31, 2021, Wigton had sales of $2.59 billion, a seven per cent increase on the $2.42 billion reported in the prior year. For the quarter, sales amounted to $649.72 million compared to $588.21 million for the comparable period in 2020.

Cost of sales went up 3% for the year

Cost of sales went up three per cent to close the year end at $789.10 million versus $763.85 million booked in the previous year. As such, gross profit grew nine per cent to total $1.80 billion while, for the quarter, gross profit closed at $474.58 million (2020: $416.50 million).

Other income amounted to $217.85 million, a one per cent decline when compared to $220.89 million reported in the same period last year. Other income for the fourth quarter totaled $86.94 million compared to other loss of $12.68 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

In addition, general administrative expenses increased amounting to $490.71 million relative to $478.58 million documented last year. General administrative expenses for the quarter fell to $194.51 million (2020: $212.18 million).

Consequently, operating profit booked a 10 per cent increase closing the year end at $1.53 billion versus $1.40 billion reported in the prior comparable period. For the quarter, operating profit amounted to $367.02 million relative to $191.64 million recorded in the previous corresponding quarter.

Minimal fall in finance expenses

Finance expense fell four per cent from $526.64 million in 2020 to $503.09 million in 2021. Earnings per share (EPS) for the year were $0.07 compared to $0.06 in 2019.  Earnings per share for the quarter amounted to $0.018 (2020 EPS: $0.012).

As at March 2021, Wigton’s total asset base went up by 2%, amounting to $10.80 billion (2020: $10.60 billion). The increase was as a result of increases in ‘Receivables’ and ‘Cash and Deposits’ which closed at $434.05 million and $3.24 billion, respectively.

However, the increase was partially tempered by a decrease in ‘Property, Plant & Equipment’ closing the period at $6.91 billion (2020: $7.43 billion).

Shareholders’ Equity amounted to $4.22 billion relative to $3.46 billion in 2020, resulting in a book value per share of $0.38 relative to $0.31 in 2020