Date: November 18, 2019

SSL Venture Capital Jamaica Limited (SSLVC), for the three months ended September 30, 2019, reported revenues of $51.03 million compared to $58.51 million in the prior year.

Cost of sales for the quarter amounted to $34.71 million (2018: nil), resulting in a gross profit of $16.32 million relative to $58.51 million booked for the corresponding quarter in 2018.

Other operating income closed at $322,591 (2018: $19.74 million). In addition, administrative expenses of $37.90 million was booked for the quarter compared to $76.18 million documented for the similar quarter in the previous year.

Consequently, operating loss for the quarter closed at $21.26 million versus an operating profit of $2.07 million booked for the same quarter in 2018.

The Company recorded net finance cost of $4.43 million for the quarter relative to $359,455 for the prior year’s corresponding quarter.

In addition, SSLVC reported loss before taxation of $25.69 million for the quarter compared to profit before taxation of $1.71 million documented in the prior year’s quarter. No taxes were incurred, as such, SSLVC closed the quarter under review with net loss of $25.69 million relative to net profit of $1.71 million booked in the prior year’s quarter.

SSLVC noted, “The losses were mainly attributable to our beverage distribution business and head office which incurred significant one-off expenses due to the reorganization and financial management review that was done to implement processes and governance procedures across all portfolio companies, the result of which we expect to see in future quarters.”

Net loss attributable to stockholders closed the quarter at $20.26 million compared to net profit attributable to shareholders of $1.35 million booked in the same quarter last year.

Loss per share (LPS) for the quarter amounted to $0.05 (2018 earnings per share: $0.003). The trailing twelve months loss per share amounted to $0.14. The number of shares used in our calculations is 400,000,000.  SSLVC stock price closed the trading period at a price of $1.19 on November 15, 2019.

Management highlighted that, “The Group will embark on fundraising activities in the foreseeable future to secure the necessary financing to support these growth initiatives and to allow us to take advantage of new and exciting opportunities that can add value for the benefit of our shareholders.”

Balance sheet at a glance:

As at September 30, 2019, total assets amounted to $228.18 million, up from the $203.20 million booked in 2018. This increase was mainly due to an increase in ‘Goodwill’ and ‘Deferred Income Taxes’ which closed at $112.01 million (2018: $98.74 million) and $33.15 million (2018: nil), respectively. ‘Intangible Assets’ also contributed to the increase closing at $2.49 million (2018: $130).

Shareholders’ deficit closed at $88.69 million relative to shareholders’ equity of $105.68 million recorded in the prior year’s corresponding period. This resulted in a Shareholders’ deficit per share of $0.22 versus a positive book value per share of $0.26 in 2018.

 

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