Durrant Pate/Contributor

Barbados based Eppley Caribbean and Property Fund continues its profitability momentum with another record breaking performance.

The mutual fund is building on the momentum of last year’s record profitability, generating BD$4.0 million in net earnings for the first half of the year ended March 31, 2022. This represents a 148 per cent increase in net earnings relative to the corresponding period last year.

Company chairman Nicholas A. Scott credits this stellar performance to the “strength of our operations and quality of our underlying assets continue to drive consistent growth in performance, further validating key strategic initiatives executed by management in recent years.”

Net operating income (NOI) attributable to shareholders, a metric that measures the fund’s share of rental income less its operating expenses, grew 34 per cent to $2.5 million for the six-month period ended March 31, 2022.

Scott reports that the consistent increase is largely reflective of added income produced from last year’s acquisitions and careful management of the Fund’s operational efficiency. Similarly, funds from operations (FFO) attributable to shareholders, a measure of the Eppley’s core operating profitability factoring in financing costs, grew 20 per cent to $2.0 million for the six-month period ended March 31, 2022.

Benefits coming from recent acquisitions

As such, the directors are expecting the company to deliver continued growth in FFO attributable to shareholders, as the Eppley continues to benefit from recent acquisitions over time. In line with its core strategy to scale and diversify, the fund, in partnership with JMMB Fund Managers, successfully completed the acquisition of 22 Chalmers Avenue.

22 Chalmers Avenue, which is the new Kingston campus of itel, is a 99,000 square foot purpose-built BPO facility in Jamaica and will house approximately 1,400 BPO seats. This acquisition was concluded near the end of the financial quarter and as a result, the financials are yet to reflect the full benefits of this acquisition.

With the addition of 22 Chalmers Avenue, the Value Fund is now comprised of over 874,000 square feet of prime commercial real estate, spread across three of the largest English-speaking countries in the Caribbean. The Value Fund concluded the first half of its financial year reporting very strong performance.

Going forward, the management remains focused on implementing key initiatives to improve operational efficiency, while further growing the portfolio, diversifying regionally and improving performance.  The Value Fund concluded the half year period ended March 31, 2022 with a healthy capital structure and liquidity of BD$7.4 million.

The strong balance sheet provides flexibility and keeps the company well-positioned for growth. The Fund further benefits from inflation protection provided by a diverse regional portfolio, underpinned by high-quality commercial real estate and strong yielding cashflows.

Eppley Caribbean Property Fund Limited SCC (formerly Fortress Caribbean Property Fund Limited SCC) (the Fund) was incorporated on May 7, 1999, and is registered under the Mutual Funds Act of Barbados as an authorised mutual fund. Its shares are traded on the Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados stock exchanges.