Losses climbed marginally for the nine months ended March 2022

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaican cinema company Palace Amusement remains in the red and has seen its losses climb marginally in spite of a marginal improvement in its losses.

Total comprehensive loss for the nine months ended March 31, 2022 was up J$262.14 million compared to J$252.36 million for the corresponding period in 2021. The good news is that there was no taxation charge for the combined three quarters relative to taxation charge of J$234,000 in 2021.

As a result, net loss for the nine months ended March 31, 2022 amounted to J$268.74 million when compared with a net loss of J$254.73 million recorded for the corresponding period for 2021. For the March quarter, net loss amounted to J$77.40 million, compared with a net loss of J$78.32 million in 2021.

Consequently, net loss attributable to shareholders for the nine months period amounted to J$268.73 million, versus the net loss attributable to shareholders of J$254.61 million for the comparable period in 2021.

For the third quarter, net loss attributable to shareholders amounted to J$77.44 million relative to a net loss attributable to shareholders of $78.25 million for the third quarter of 2021. Loss per share (LPS) for the quarter totalled J$53.89 relative to a LPS of $54.45 in 2021. For the nine months ended March 31, 2022, Palace Amusement recorded a LPS of $187.00 relative to a LPS of $177.18 for the comparable period in 2021.

Big 293% increase in revenues

For the combined three quarters total revenues amounted to J$373.65 million, a 293 per cent increase when compared with the J$95 million recorded for 2021. Total revenue for the March quarter increased 400 per cent to total J$141.98 million relative to the J$28.38 million recorded for same period in 2021.

Direct expenses for the nine months came out at J$476.40 million, representing a 70 per cent increase compared with the J$280.20 million recorded for 2021. As such, gross loss for the period amounted to J$102.75 million, a 45 per cent fall when compared to the gross loss of J$185.20 million in 2021.

Administrative expenses for the combined three quarters increased 85 per cent to J$137.44 million compared to J$74.40 million for the comparable period in the prior year. For the nine months period, finance costs rose 191 per cent to J$31.39 million relative to the J$10.80 million recorded in 2021.

As at March 31, 2022 Palace Amusement reported total assets of J$1.84 billion, an 86 per cent increase when compared to J$986.80 million in the prior year. This increase in assets was primarily due to a 122 per cent increase in ‘Property, plant and equipment’ to total J$1.12 billion (2021: $497.43 million) but was tempered by an 18 per cent decline in ‘Right of Use Assets’ to J$262.32 million (2021: $318.75 million).

Shareholders’ Equity as at March 31, 2022 was J$373.21 million compared to J$131.30 million for the prior year. This resulted in a book value per share of J$259.71 compared to J$91.37 booked a year ago.