Salada Foods Jamaica Ltd. (SALF) for the first quarter ended December 31, 2023, reported a 2% increase in turnover totalling $299.89 million compared to $294.04 million in the corresponding three months last year.

Cost of sales amounted to $208.18 million (2022: $200.56 million), this represents an increase of 4% year over year. Consequently, gross profit decreased by 2% to $91.71 million relative to $93.49 million for the first quarter ended December 31, 2022.

Other operating income climbed 98% to close at $647,000 (2022: $326,000). Selling and promotional expenses fell 27% from $21.16 million in 2022 to $15.38 million for the three months, while administrative expenses for the first quarter amounted to $39.11 million, a 6% uptick relative to $36.74 million reported in 2022.

Operating profit for the three months amounted to $37.87 million, a 5% increase relative to $35.90 million reported in 2022. Finance income totalled $3.30 million; a surge relative to $592,000 from the corresponding period last year.

Profit before taxation for the first quarter ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $41.17 million, a 13% increase relative to $36.50 million reported in 2022.

Taxation for the three months had a 13% increase to reach $10.29 million (2022: $9.12 million). Net profit for the three months amounted to $30.88 million, a 13% increase from the $27.37 million reported in 2022.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the three months amounted to $0.030 (2022: $0.026). The twelve-month trailing EPS was $0.18, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 1,038,832,900.

Notably, SALF’s stock price closed the trading period on February 15, 2024, at a price of $3.59 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 20.35x.

Balance Sheet Highlights:

The company’s assets totalled $1.25 billion; a 7% increase from the $1.17 billion booked in 2022. This was largely due to a 56% increase in investments, which closed at $274.74 million (2022: $175.82 million).

Shareholder’s equity was $1.06 billion (2022: $1.02 billion), representing a book value per share of $1.02 (2022: $0.98).

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