However, big drop in revenues for the year ended June 2021

Venture capital company, SSL Venture Capital Jamaica has made a significant turnaround, cutting its losses by more than $151 million for the year ended June 30, 2021.

The company reported a net loss of $321,377 for the year versus a loss of $152.83 million reported in 2020. There was a taxation charge of $10.74 million compared to a tax credit of $16.93 million last year.

Net profit for the June quarter amounted to $63.70 million versus a net loss of $10.19 million booked in 2020, thus indicative of the turnaround being made in the company. Net loss attributable to shareholders for the year-end amounted to $253,442, which is an improvement of more than $138 million on the 2020 net loss of $138.94 million.

Also, net profit attributable to shareholders for the fourth quarter was $50.24 million versus a loss of $7.90 million booked twelve months earlier, again indicative of the improvements being made in the venture capital outfit.

Management on reduced losses

The management is reporting, “These reduced losses, when compared to prior periods, were primarily driven by the write-off of payables balances owed to parent company of $96.4M relating to Bar Central Limited. Management was not able to secure a sale for Bar Central Limited and as such took the decision to write-off inter-company balances in order to facilitate wind up of the subsidiary.”

The company in its report to shareholders on its 2021 year-end performance commented that, “Based on the overall status of the company with no active operating entity, the board and the executive management team of the SSLVC (SSL Venture Capital) Group along with the parent company, Stocks & Securities Limited are now in deliberations on the future of the company. The board would like to reiterate from previous disclosures to the market that all decisions regarding the future of the company will consider the interest of all stakeholders of SSLVC.”

Big drop in revenues

While the company has been cutting its losses, revenues have been going in the wrong direction. For the year under review, SSL Venture Capital reported revenues of $19.35 million versus $116.76 million in 2020.

During the last quarter, revenues amounted to a mere $13,941 coming from $3.53 million for the same period in 2020. Cost of sales amounted to $19.15 million (2020: $105.12 million), thus resulting in a gross profit of $196,958 relative to $11.64 million booked last year.

Gross profit for the quarter amounted to $548 versus $1.47 million booked for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020. Other operating income closed at $70.93 million (2020: $42.82 million) for the year ended June 30, 2021.

In addition, administrative expenses totalled $52.14 million in the year ended June 30, 2021, compared to $139.69 million documented in the previous year. The company reported an ‘Impairment loss’ of $1.62 million at the end of 2020 and nil for the period under review.

Consequently, operating profit amounted to $19 million versus a loss of $153.74 million reported in 2020. Net finance cost for the period decreased 46 per cent to close at $8.57 million compared to $16.02 million reported in 2020.

As at June 30, 2021, total assets amounted to $67.48 million down 43 per cent from the $118.38 million booked in 2020. ‘Receivables’ declined by $26.24 million to $19.69 million (2020: $45.94 million), ‘Deferred income taxes’ decreased by $10.74 million to $36.65 million (2020: $47.39 million) and ‘Property & Equipment’ went down by $6.46 million to closed at $6.35 million (2020: $12.81 million).