Jamaican listed airport concessionaire, Express Catering has managed to make a big 2021 fourth quarter rebound ending the previous quarterly losses.

Having posted quarterly losses for the year, Express Catering, which operates several shops at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, managed to claw back some of the losses from the previous quarters.

The airport concessionaire registered marked improvements in the May fourth quarter posting net profits of US$706,879 reversing the net loss of US$1.08 million booked for the comparable period in 2020.

In spite of the improved fourth quarter performance, Express Catering chalked up losses of US$1.73 million for its 2021 financial year, which ended on May 31. Last year, it made a profit of US$1.56 million. The losses have come about due mainly to the downturn in traffic through the airport, as a result of COVID-19 and the four month shut down of Jamaica’s tourism sector.

Operating loss for the year amounted to US$1.54 million relative to the profit of US$2.84 million in 2020. Operating loss for the May quarter totalled US$336,749 relative to the loss of US$118,776 booked for the corresponding quarter of 2020.

Revenue for the May fourth quarter climbed 96% to close at US$2.14 million relative to US$$1.09 million reported the previous year but revenues for the year were still down. Revenues for the year went down to US$4.41 million compared to US$14 million for 2020.

Finance cost up with cost of sales down

Finance cost went up to US$1.93 million for 2021 compared to US$1.29 million in 2020 while foreign exchange loss amounted to US$59,378 relative to gains of US$21,153 reported a year prior.

Cost of sales decreased by 65% for the period to US$1.53 million coming from US$4.33 million in 2020.

However, gross profit decreased year-on-year by 70% from US$9.68 million in 2020 to US$2.89 million in 2021. Gross profit for the fourth quarter climbed significantly from US$318,500 in 2020 to US$1.19 million, a 271% increase year over year.

Total expenses decreased by 35% for the period in review to US$4.43 million, down from US$6.84 million booked for 2020. The decline was associated with a 55% reduction in administrative expenses to US$2.01 million from US$4.41 million booked in the same period last year.

Depreciation and Amortization saw a marginal 1% increase to US$2.41 million compared to US$2.38 million for the comparable period in 2020.

Total expenses for the fourth quarter rose 248% to close at US$1.52 million (2020: US$437,276).

Promotional expenses saw a 70% decrease from US$46,034 in 2020 to US$13,996 for the period under review.

Express Catering as at May 31, 2021, recorded total assets of US$39.81 million, up from the 2020 out turn of US$32.47 million.

Notably, ‘Assets due from related companies’ increased to US$7.64 million but this was slightly tempered by a 6% decline in ‘Property, plant and equipment’ which ended at US$3.93 million (2020: US$4.20 million).