Durrant Pate/Contributor

The financial hemorrhaging at Jamaica’s sole moving company stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic has been cauterised to the extent that Palace Amusement has reversed its 2022 losses.

The company, which ended its 2023 financial year in June posted creditable net profit of J$228.14 million, reversing the 2022 net loss of J$260.68 million. Palace Amusement’s June fourth quarter was extremely strong, with net profit totalling J$224.30 million, up from the loss of J$8.05 million last year.

Net profit attributable to stockholders for the year amounted to J$228.16 million, a 188 per cent increase from the loss of J$260.67 million reported in 2022. For the fourth quarter, shareholders net profit for the June quarter was J$224.25 million, up from J$8.06 million in 2022

Taxation for the year amounted to J$180.53 million, a 2,503 per cent increase relative to the J$6.94 million reported in 2022. Taxation for the fourth quarter amounted to J$180.53 million, up from J$6.94 million last year.

Big surge in income

Total comprehensive income for the year registered a 178 per cent increase to reach J$197.10 million compared to the loss of J$252.14 million in 2022. Revenues for the year went up 134 per cent to J$1.52 billion compared to J$649.04 million in 2022.

Revenues for the fourth quarter had a 74% jump closing at J$480.31 million compared to J$275.40 million for the comparable quarter of 2022. Consequently, Earnings Per Share (EPS) for the year closed on J$0.26, up from the loss per year of J$0.30.

EPS for the June last quarter totaled $0.26 (2022: EPS: $0.01). Notably, Palace Amusement’s stock price closed last week’s at a price of J$1.56 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 5.90x.

Fast-rising expenses

Direct expenses surged to J$1.22 billion, up from J$706.27 million last year, an increase of 73 per cent year-over-year. Consequently, gross profit increased by 620 per cent to J$297.32 million compared to a loss of J$57.23 million for the year ended June 30, 2022.

Administration expenses increased by 19 per cent to close at J$208.07 million (2022: J$174.49 million), while other operating income increased by 71 per cent from J$9.42 million in 2022 to J$16.14 million in the period under review. As a result, operating profit for the year ended June 30, 2023 amounted to J$105.39 million relative to operating loss of J$222.30 million reported in 2022.

Finance costs for the year ended June 30, 2023, amounted to J$57.78 million, a 27 per cent decrease relative to J$45.32 million reported in 2022. Finance costs for the fourth quarter amounted to J$9.61 million (2022: J$13.93 million).

Profit Before taxation totalled J$47.61 million (2022: loss before taxation of J$267.62 million).

Balance Sheet Highlights

As at June 30, 2023, Palace Amusement reported total assets of J$1.78 billion, a 1.0 per cent decrease when compared to J$1.77 billion in the prior year. This increase in assets was primary due to ‘Property, Plant & Equipment’ which closed at J$1.03 billion (2022: J$1.09 billion).

Shareholder’s equity was J$580.52 million (2022: J$383.31 million), representing a book value per share of J$0.67 (2022: J$0.44).