Business
JAM | Sep 22, 2022

Sangster airport departure lounge uptick

/ Our Today

administrator
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Express Catering benefitting with August quarterly income rising to US$652,841

One of the shops operated by Express Catering.

Durrant Pate/Contributor

The departure lounge at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James has seen an uptick in passengers accessing the shopping area.

Total passengers accessing the departure lounge during the August quarter amounted to just under 600,000, or 37.44 per cent higher than the similar period last year when just over 432,000 entered the area.

Construction work around the revamping of the post-security food and beverage lounge at the airport is ongoing.

An additional US$298,424 was spent on the project during the August quarter. With the surge in passengers accessing the lounge, Express Catering Limited (ECL), which has a number of shops in the location, is reporting a surge in income for the quarter.

Total comprehensive income for the quarter under review was booked at US$652,841 compared US$565,068 during the corresponding period in 2021. Operating profit for the first quarter jumped to US$1.19 million, up from US$728,498 posted last year.

For the August quarter, revenues rose by 35 per cent for the period to US$4.91 million, up from US$3.64 million in 2021. Cost of sales rose by 40 per cent for the period to US$1.74 million (2021: US$1.24 million).

Admin expenses rose sharply

Total expenses rose by 19 per cent for the period under review to US$1.98 million, up from US$1.67 million in 2021. This increase was associated with a 24 per cent increase in administrative expenses from US$993,374 in 2021 to US$1.23 million in 2022.

Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James. (Photo: Airports Authority of Jamaica)

Depreciation and Amortization remained unchanged at US$678,444 while promotional expenses amounting to US$71,631 (US$1,314). Finance cost of US$522,130 (US$514,646) was booked for the period.

Foreign exchange loss amounted to US$15,464 for the period. The Montego Bay-based company, as at August 31, 2022, recorded total assets of US$41.22 million compared to US$40.50 million as at August 2021.

This was mainly as a result of a significant increase in ‘Assets due from related companies’ from US$8.80 million in 2021 to US$11.67 million in 2022. Total Stockholders’ equity as at August 31, 2022 closed at US$4 million (2021: US$2.81 million).

This resulted in a book value of US 0.24 cents (2021: US 0.17 cents).

Comments

What To Read Next