Revenues went up marginally 3% to J$16.23 billion

Cigarette distributor, Carreras has seen a sharp fall in net profit for the year ended March 2023, which went down to J$3.64 billion compared to J$4.07 billion in 2022.

This represents a fall of 11per cent. Net profit for the March quarter closed at J$894.99 million, down 12 per cent from the J$1.02 billion booked for the similar quarter of 2022.

Pre-tax profit amounted to J$4.86 billion for the year in review (2022: J$5.43 billion).

Pre-tax profit for the March 2023 quarter went down 13 per cent moving to J$1.18 billion coming from J$1.35 billion reported as at March 2022.

Revenue performance

Operating revenue closed on J$16.23 billion, a 3 per cent increase relative to J$15.75 billion booked in 2022. Revenue for the quarter declined 8 per cent to J$3.70 billion (2022: $4.03 billion).

Cost of operating revenue increased year-over-year by 6 per cent to J$8.67 billion coming from the J$8.18 billion booked twelve months earlier. Total operating expenses for the year jumped 18 per cent to J$2.76 billion compared to J$2.33 billion in 2022. 

Of these expenses, the most significant were administrative, distribution and marketing expenses, which increased 17 per cent to J$2.72 billion (2022: J$2.32 billion). The earnings per share (EPS) for the year closed at J$0.75 as compared to J$0.84 for 2022.

Balance sheet highlights

Total Assets amounted to J$5.50 billion as at March 31, 2023, up 5 per cent from J$5.23 billion reported in 2022. This was mainly due to an increase in ‘Accounts receivable’ totalling J$2.28 billion (2022: J$1.46 billion). 

The overall movement was tempered by a decline in ‘Inventory’ which amounted to J$459.31 million (2022: J$1.13 billion). Shareholders’ equity attributable to stockholders of the parent amounted to J$2.04 billion (2022: J$2.09 billion) with a book value per share of J$0.42 (2022: J$0.43).