Salada Foods Jamaica Limited (SALF) for the nine months ended June 30, 2023, reported a slight increase in turnover to $965.19 million compared to $963.62 million in the corresponding period last year. Turnover for the third quarter had a 16% decrease to close at $276.92 million compared to $328.35 million for the comparable quarter of 2022.

Cost of sales amounted to $676.49 million (2022: $669.79 million), this represents an increase of 1% year over year. Consequently, gross profit decreased by 2% to $288.70 million compared to $293.83 million for the nine months ended June 30, 2022. The company booked gross profit of $73.13 million for the third quarter versus $94.70 million reported for the similar quarter of 2022.

Selling and promotional expenses increased by 31% to close at $61.04 million (2022: $46.45 million), while administrative expenses increased by 4% from $107.38 million in 2022 to $111.26 million for the period under review.

As a result, operating profit amounted to $118.38 million, a 16% decrease relative to $141.08 million reported in 2022. Operating profit for the third quarter amounted to $21.99 million (2022: $42.94 million).

Net finance income totalled $14.44 million, a 101% increase from the corresponding period last year (2022: $7.20 million).

Profit before taxation for the nine months ended June 30, 2023, amounted to $132.82 million, a 10% decrease relative to $148.28 million reported in 2022. Profit before taxation for the third quarter amounted to $32.98 million (2022: $38.63 million).

Taxation for the nine months ended June 30, 2023 had a 10% decrease to reach $33.21 million (2022: $37.07 million). Therefore, net profit for the nine months amounted to $99.62 million, a 10% decrease from the $111.21 million reported in 2022. For the third quarter, net profit was $24.73 million (2022: $28.97 million). Net profit attributable to shareholders decreased 10% to $99.62 million (2022: $111.21 million).

Earnings per share (EPS) for the nine months amounted to $0.10 (2022: $0.11), while EPS for the quarter totalled $0.02 (2022: $0.03). The twelve-month trailing EPS was $0.16, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 1,038,832,900 units.

Notably, SALF’s stock price closed the trading period on August 9, 2023 at $3.04 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 19.28x.

Balance Sheet Highlights

The company’s assets increased 3% to $1.30 billion (2022: $1.26 billion). This increase was largely due to current investments, which grew 84% from $158.06 million in 2022 to $291.13 million in 2023.

Shareholder’s equity increased 9% to $1.09 billion (2022: $1.00 billion), representing a book value per share of $1.05 (2022: $0.96).

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