Company surpasses $500-million threshold in revenues for September quarter

Newly listed public company, Tropical Battery is reporting all-time high quarterly revenue of JM$506 million for its September fourth quarter.

This is the first time Tropical Battery is breaking the 500-million dollar revenue mark in a quarter, in which the company was listed on the junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) on September 29 following its successful Initial Public Offer (IPO) of 162.5 million shares.

The fourth-quarter revenues of $506 million, represents an increase of 2.6% above 2019 Q4 results. In its just-released fourth-quarter results, Tropical Battery reports that gross profit came in at 31.8% of revenue, which was above the budgeted 31.5%. 

However, there was a 10.8% jump in administration, marketing and selling expenses to $123 million year over year. 

This was mainly due to new Covid-19 related expenses and one-time IPO related expenses. Profits before tax were up 31.8% compared to the prior year of $24.5 million. Net profit per share was $0.02 for Q4, versus $0.01 for the prior year.

Fiscal year performance

For the fiscal year, revenue came in at $1.9 billion or 7.2% above last year. Gross profit was 31.3% of revenue, which was 1.1-percentage points above 2019. 

For the fiscal year, administration, marketing and selling expenses were up 10.5% over the prior year.

This reflected the net effect of efficiency improvements and additional expenses from COVID-19. Net profit per share improved to $0.06 per share compared to $0.05 per share in 2019. 

The company directors in their report to shareholders say they are humbled and excited about the opportunities that this additional capital from the IPO brings to the company. Total equity was up 41.9% moving from $547 million at the end of fiscal year 2019 to $776 million as at September 30, 2020. 

This increase was driven mainly through increases in retained earnings and cash received from the IPO. 

Total Assets remained relatively flat at $1.3 billion as reductions in current assets were offset by capital expenditure associated with its new warehouse in Ferry St. Catherine, while liabilities declined by 32.6% moving from $808 million as at the fiscal yearend 2019 to $545 million as that September 30, 2020. 

This positive move reflects the company’s focus on improving its capital structure. 

Growth plan

As a part of its strategic 2021 growth plan, Tropical Battery will be “focusing on creating shareholder’s value through acquisitions and partnerships of aligned profitable companies in Jamaica and across the Caribbean region. To this end, we have entered into discussions with several key partners to assist in identifying suitable acquisition targets, ” the directors report.