June 17, 2024

The Limners and Bards Limited (LAB)

Unaudited financials for the six months ended April 30, 2024:

The Limners and Bards Limited (LAB) for the six months ended April 30, 2024, reported a 17% decrease in Operating revenue totaling $445.60 million compared to $539.15 million in the corresponding period last year. Operating revenue for the second quarter had a 22% decrease to close at $226.19 million compared to $291.39 million for the comparable quarter of 2023.

Cost of operating revenue amounted to $265.20 million (2023: $346.51 million), this represents a decrease of 23% year over year. Consequently, gross profit decreased by 6% to $180.40 million compared to $192.64 million for the six months ended April 30, 2023. The company booked gross profit of $91.41 million for the second quarter versus $100.63 million reported for the similar quarter of 2023.

Selling and distribution decreased by 36% to close at $966,245 (2023: $1.51 million), while administrative expenses decreased by 18% from $168.80 million in 2023 to $138.13 million in the period under review. As a result, total operating expenses for the six months ended April 30, 2024, amounted to $139.10 million, an 18% decrease relative to $170.31 million reported in 2023.

Profit before net finance cost and taxation for the six months ended April 30, 2024, amounted to $46.17 million, a 107% increase relative to $22.33 million reported in 2023. Profit before net finance cost and taxation for the second quarter amounted to $20.40 million (2023: $16.10 million). Net finance income totalled $3.16 million relative to net finance cost of $2.39 million reported for the period last year.

Profit before taxation for the six months ended April 30, 2024, amounted to $49.34 million, a 148% increase relative to $19.86 million reported in 2023. Profit before taxation for the second quarter amounted to $23.16 million (2023: $13.52 million).

Taxation credit for the six months ended April 30, 2024, had a 74% decrease to reach $115,371 (2023: $435,411). Net profit for the six months amounted to $49.46 million, a 144% increase from the $20.29 million reported in 2023. For the second quarter, Net profit was $23.23 million (2023: $13.67 million).

Consequently, Earnings Per Share for the six months amounted to $0.05 (2023: EPS: $0.02), while Earnings Per Share for the quarter totaled $0.02 (2023: EPS: $0.01). The twelve-month trailing EPS was $0.07, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 945,690,252.

Notably, LAB’s stock price closed the trading period on June 14, 2024, at a price of $1.68 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 23.75x.

Balance Sheet Highlights

The company’s assets totalled $1.05 billion (2023: $893.24 million). This increase was attributable to ‘cash and cash equivalents’ which amounted to $558.95 million for the second quarter of 2024 (2023: $439.79 million). Additionally, ‘property, plant and equipment’ also contributed to the rise in total assets equating to $94.57 million for the second quarter of 2024 (2023: $64.37 million).

Shareholder’s equity was $647.33 million (2023: $561.81 million), representing a book value per share of $0.68 (2023: $0.59).

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