Durrant Pate/Contributor

Stationary and Office Supplies Limited (SOS) has closed out 2023 as its best year yet, raking in J$1.94 billion in revenues.

This is up 11 per cent from the previous year. Despite a five per cent decline in its fourth-quarter revenues, managing director Allan McDaniel is pleased with its overall performance, which points to the magnitude of its future potential.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the company’s gross profit reached J$983 million, a 19 per cent increase in 2022, while its gross profit percentage increased by per cent. Pre-tax profit grew by 21 per cent from J$283 million in 2022 to J$332 million in 2023, profit after tax increased by 12 per cent, and expenses rose eight per cent, moving from J$609 million to J$660 million.

Among the best-performing areas were SEEK, which experienced its best year ever, with over J$97 million in revenues and its furniture line, Evolve, which surpassed J$100 million in sales. The company also increased its inventory management and warehousing capacity, adding 3,000 square feet of storage in Montego Bay and constructing a new 5,000 square-foot building on its Beechwood Avenue property, bringing total warehousing capacity to over 50,000 square feet. 

Planned expansion

SOS also purchased two new properties in Kingston with plans to erect two additional warehouses to further increase storage capacity by 40 per cent in 2024. Meanwhile, the last quarter of 2023 saw a slowdown in revenues, which declined by five per cent, dropping from J$430 million to J$408 million. 

Gross profit slightly decreased by 1.5 per cent, from J$207 million to J$204 million, while pre-tax profit saw a substantial decrease of 40 per cent, falling from J$41.2 million to J$24 million. Expenses increased by 10%, rising from J$166 million to J$182 million.

McDaniel notes that “although the fourth quarter didn’t perform as well as we’d hoped, there were still many positive milestones that advanced our long-term goals”.

“For example, we shipped out the fifth and sixth containers of our furniture lines to The Office Authority in Trinidad; we confirmed a new regional dealer, ‘Décor Office’, in St. Lucia, and we placed an order to purchase new machinery for the SEEK factory to double our output in 2024. We might’ve hit a slow period this quarter, but we’ve had a standout year. And the strategic moves we’ve made are paving the way for even stronger performance in the years to come,” he added.

At the end of the year, SOS increased its total assets by 25 per cent from J$1.39 billion at the end of 2022 to J$1.74 billion at year-end 2023. Fixed assets also rose by 36 per cent with the purchase of two additional properties. 

Earnings per share at the end of 2023 was J$1.15, an increase of J$.12 compared to the J$1.03 at the end of 2022. During the year SOS was able to establish new partnerships in Trinidad, St. Lucia and the Cayman Islands while hitting its highest revenues with SEEK and significantly boosting its warehousing capabilities.