May 16, 2018 

Berger Paints Jamaica Limited (BRG) for the ended March 31, 2018 reported total Revenues of $506.10 million, a 13% increase relative to $449.70 million reported in for the comparable period in 2017.

The company reported ‘changes in inventories of finished goods and work in progress’ declined 22% to 22.35 million from $28.64 million booked for the first quarter of 2017.

The company reported other income of $139,000 a 96% decline from the $3.28 million reported last year.

The company recorded an overall uptick in expenses. The company noted, “Prior operating expenses included $12 million of IAS19 reductions to employee benefit expenses not recurring in this quarter.” Of total operating expenses:

• Raw materials and consumables climbed 20% to close at $269.95 million (2017: $224.42 million)
• Depreciation costs totalled $7.28 million (2017:$7.10 million)
• Manufacturing expenses totalled $22.70 million (2017: $32.97 million), a 31% decline year over year.
• Employee benefits expenses climbed 11% to $118.03 million (2017: $106.75 million)
• Other operating expenses increased 53% to $99.41 million relative to the $64.82 million recorded in 2017.

This resulted in operating profit for the period of $11.22 million, a 75% or $34.34 million decline when compared with the $45.57 million recorded for the comparable period in 2017.

Profit before Tax for the period amounted to $11.22 million, also a 75% or $34.34 million decline relative to the $45.57 million reported for the comparable period in 2017. The Company noted , “Profit before tax decreased by $34 million mainly due to the impact of the IFRS 9 implementation with an additional provision for aged receivables totaling $18.5 M, together with increases in fixed expenses of $11.6 million arising from marketing programs occurring earlier than last year.”

 BRG booked Taxation for the period of $3.49 million in contrast to a tax credit of $20.13 million. Consequently, Net Profit for the three months period decreased 88% or $57.97 million to total $7.73 million when compared with the $65.70 million reported for the corresponding period in 2017.

Consequently, Earnings per share for the three months ended March 31, 2018 amounted to $0.04 (2017: $0.31). The trailing twelve months earnings per share amounted to $0.86. The total number of shares used in the calculations amounted to 214,322,393 units. Notably, BRG’s stock price closed the trading period on May 16, 2018 at a price of $20.45

The company noted, “The reported quarter, January to March, now represents the first quarter in the new financial year of Berger Paints Jamaica Limited (BPJL), whereas previously January to march was the last quarter of our financial year. Consequently, readers should be aware that the periods are not directly comparable as the former would have included year end valuations and audit entries.”

Balance Sheet Highlights:

The company, as at March 31, 2018 recorded total assets of $1.67 billion, an increase of 12% when compared to $1.49 billion recorded last year. This was due to increases in ‘Property, Plant and Equipment’ and ‘Inventories’ to total $291.94 million (2017: $197.58 million) and $505.61 (2017: $342.62 million.)

Total Stockholders’ equity as at March 31, 2018, closed at $1.06 billion, an 8% increase from $976.92 million for the corresponding period last year. This resulted in a book value per share of $4.94 compared to the value of $4.56 as March 31, 2017.

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