… after positive March quarterly performance

At least two listed Jamaican companies are considering dividend payments, having made reasonable quarter profits during the first quarter of 2021. Another has declared a dividend payment for next month.

They are Seprod Limited and The Limners and Bards Limited. Seprod has advised that its Board of Directors, at a meeting scheduled to be held on July 26, will consider the payment of a dividend while the Limners and Bards Limited has advised that a Special Board meeting will be convened on July 13 to consider the declaration of an interim dividend.

Elite Diagnostic Limited has declared an interim dividend of $0.09 per stock unit payable on August 5, 2021 to stockholders on record as at July 19, 2021. The ex-dividend date is July 16, 2021.

During the first quarter, Seprod reported net profit of J$546.31 million, relative to last year’s $632.72 million. The Jamaican manufacturing conglomerate indicated that it has been rocked by massive increases in shipping cost and global commodity prices during the March quarter, which affected profitability, which declined by 14 per cent.

March quarterly performance

The LAB continued its profitable run into 2021, even with a slow-down in advertising agency business. Having ended 2020 very strong, recording a 34 per cent jump in net profits for the year, the sole listed advertising agency on the local stock market started its 2021 first quarter in the same vein.

Net profits for the quarter ended January 31, 2021 was $67.02 million, up $18.11 million or 37 per cent over the J$48.90 million recorded for the comparable period in 2020. Revenue for the January 2021 quarter was J$356.3 million, up 38.9 per cent compared to $263 million for the corresponding period last year.

The Board of Directors of Elite Diagnostic Limited, a medical diagnostic service provider, reported that for the March 31, 2021 quarter net profit amounted to $4.4 million as compared to a loss of $2.1 million the previous year. Revenue for the nine-month period ended March 31, 2021 was $365.6 million compared to $347.3 million the previous year.

Revenue for the third quarter was $129.5 million compared to $111.4 million the previous year.