Durrant Pate/Contributor

Eppley Caribbean Property Fund Limited is reporting a strong nine-month performance with profits surging and rental income rising.

The company, which is based in Barbados and traded on the Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados stock exchanges, continues to experience significant improvements in all key financial performance metrics.

The management reports that, “the improved performance was driven by the strength of the fund’s operations and quality of its underlying assets, further validating key strategic initiatives executed by management in recent years.”

Profit before tax for the nine months ended June 30, 2022 closed at BB$6.57 million, up from the 2021 booking of BB$2.76 million, while profit before tax for the third quarter totalled BB$2.43 million, up from BB$1.02 million posted in 2021. Profits attributable to shareholders for the nine months amounted to BB$6.42 million compared to BB$2.64 million booked in 2021.

Net operating income attributable to shareholders, which is a performance metric that measures the fund’s share of rental income less its operating expenses, grew 40 per cent to BB$4.4 million for the nine-month period. The increase is largely reflective of added income generated from recent acquisitions and careful management of the fund’s operational efficiency.

Total comprehensive income surging

Profit attributable to shareholders for the June third quarter totalled BB$2.39 million (2021: BB$1.01 million). Consequently, total comprehensive income for the review period closed at BB$6.42 million compared to BB$2.64 million reported for 2021.

Total comprehensive income for the third quarter ended June 30, 2022 totalled $2.39 million (2021: $1.01 million). Earnings per share for the nine months amounted to 4.71 cents compared to 1.93 cents for the corresponding period in 2021.

Net rental income grew to BB$3.43 million (2021: BB$2.98 million), representing a 15 per cent increase year-over-year. In addition, the share of profit of investments accounted for using the equity method rose from BB$1.42 million in 2021 to BB$4 million for the nine months ended June 2022.  

According to the management, “the Value Fund continues to experience significant improvements in all key financial performance metrics. The improved performance was driven by the strength of the fund’s operations and quality of its underlying assets, further validating key strategic initiatives executed by management in recent years.”

Fair value gains on investment property amounted to BB$1.12 million relative to gains of BB$136,298 in 2021. Interest income amounted to BB$553,416 versus BB$513,372 booked for the corresponding nine months last year.

Total investment income increased to a total of $9.12 million (2021: $5.05 million). For the third quarter ended June 30, 2022, total investment income amounted to $3.31 million (2021: 1.79 million).

Disaggregating operating expenses

Total operating expenses amounted to BB$2.55 million (2021: BB$2.29 million). Total operating expenses can be broken down as follows:

• Interest expenses totalled BB$947,465 (2021: BB$692,260).
• Fund management fees rose four per cent to BB$562,639 compared to BB$540,214 booked for 2021 nine months.
• Professional fees totalled BB$353,268 (2021: BB$307,723).
• Directors and subcommittee fees closed at BB$2,520 (2021: BB$2,490).
• Office and administrative fees declined to BB$12,443 versus BB$14,943 reported in 2021.
• Investment advisor fees totalled BB$562,639 (2021: BB$540,214).

Total operating expense for the third quarter ended June 30, 2022, amounted to BB$881,181 (2021: BB$772,103). As at June 30, 2022, total assets amounted to BB$130.36 million, three per cent more than the BB$126.91 million reported in 2021.

This was attributed to a rise in ‘Investment securities’ which closed the period at BB$10.45 million (2021: nil). This was offset by a decrease in ‘Cash and Cash Equivalents’ which closed at BB$8.17 million (2021: BB$17.85 million).

Eppley Caribbean Property Fund has advised that an ordinary dividend of 0.15 Barbados cents (Bds$0.0015) per share was declared. Payment will be made on September 15, 2022, to all shareholders on record as at August 31, 2022. The ex-dividend date is August 30, 2022.