Investment company, Eppley Limited for the year ended December 31, 2021 saw its net profit attributable to shareholders grow by 12 per cent to J$251.63 million.

This is up from the J$225.34 million recorded for the same period in 2020. Net profit for the December quarter amounted to J$60.75 million, an eight per cent uptick when compared with the J$56.27 million recorded for the last quarter in 2020.

Commenting on the growth in profitability, Eppley’s management reports that, “Our growth in profitability continues to be led by the fees we earn managing or administering assets in our real estate, mezzanine and infrastructure strategies. These fees provide a source of recurring predictable cash flow. Our proprietary portfolio is our second source of earnings.”

The management adds that the company is starting to see a recovery in the growth of the gross income we earn from our own investments adding “we expect that this will translate into increases in our income net of financing costs in the short-term.” Total comprehensive income for the year amounted to J$266.09 million, down from the J$271.28 million booked in 2020.

Pre-tax profit closed 2021 at J$268.47 million, 19 per cent more than the J$225.17 million booked in 2020. A tax charge of J$16.83 million was booked in 2021, relative to the tax credit of J$168,000 reported the year prior.

Interest income went up 16 per cent to J$386.56 million a 16 per cent or $53.65 million increase when compared to the J$332.91 million recorded for the corresponding period in 2020. Total interest income for the last quarter amounted to J$97.96 million, a 15 per cent increase when compared to the J$85.24 million recorded for the same quarter in 2020.

Big jump in interest expenses

Interest expenses for the period amounted to J$285.62 million, representing a big 38 per cent increase when compared to J$207.68 million recorded for the prior year. Consequently, net interest income for the financial year fell 19 per cent to total J$100.94 million, down from the J$125.23 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.

Net interest income for the fourth quarter amounted to J$18.68 million relative to J$31.49 million in 2020. Asset Management fee income amounted to J$219.11 million (2020: J$194.24 million), while fees and other operating income for the period closed at J$140 million relative to the J$85.98 million booked for 2020.

Administrative expenses rose 11 per cent for the year to close at J$211.69 million up from J$190.16 million recorded in the previous year. Eppley recorded a total of J$21.58 million for share of net profit from joint venture accounted for using the equity method for the period relative to the J$10.82 million recorded for the corresponding period in FY2020.

Net impairment losses of financial and contracts assets totalled $1.47 million versus $939,000 documented in the prior comparable year. Earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2021 totalled J$1.31 compared to J$1.17 for the corresponding period in 2020.

Growth in assets

As at December 31, 2021, total assets amounted to J$5.52 billion, relative to the J$4.14 billion recorded a year ago. The increase in assets was driven primarily by increases in ‘Lease receivables’ which closed at J$1.70 billion (2020: J$587.13 million).

Shareholder’s Equity as at December 31, 2021 totalled J$1.09 billion (2020: J$1 billion) resulting in a book value per share of approximately J$5.66 relative to J$5.22 in 2020.