February 14, 2020
Eppley Caribbean Property Fund Limited (CPFV), for the first quarter ended December 31, 2019 reported net rental income of $843,396 (2018: $392,858), a 115% increase. In addition, share of profit of investments accounted for using the equity method increased from $533,067 in 2018 to $544,688 for 2019. The Company stated, “The Fund continues to benefit from improved operational efficiency and the addition of high-quality commercial properties following a capital raise on the Jamaican markets in the summer of 2019. Since the capital raise and cross-listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), the Value Fund has now successfully executed all five immediate acquisitions outlined in its Prospectus dated June 15, 2019.”
Interest income amounted to $269,745 versus $55,205 booked for the previous corresponding quarter. No other income was reported for 2018 and 2019 first quarters.
As such, total investment income increased to a total of $1.66 million (2018: $981,130).
Total operating expenses amounted to $442,631 (2018: $300,530). Total operating expenses can be broken down as follows:
o Interest expenses totalled to $121,856 (2018: $121,205).
o Fund management fees was $165,800 compared to $73,918 booked for 2018 first quarter.
o Professional fees totalled $54,654 (2018: $30,300).
o Directors and subcommittee fees closed at $800 (2018: $640).
o Office and administrative fees went up to $6,487 (2018: $549).
o Investment advisor fees closed the quarter at $165,800 (2018: $73,918).
The Company stated, “The Fund’s key performance items all improved by at least 35% on an absolute basis relative to the corresponding period in 2018.”
Profit before tax closed the quarter at $1.22 million (2018: $680,600). Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations for the quarter amounted to loss of $61,360 (2018: nil).
Profits attributable to shareholders amounted to $1.22 million compared to $649,213 booked prior corresponding period. Non-controlling interest for the quarter closed at loss of 399 versus a profit of 31,387 reported previous corresponding quarter.
Consequently, total comprehensive income for the period closed at $1.22 million compared to $680,600 reported in 2018’s corresponding period. The Company noted, “The growth is largely attributable to the added cash flows from the recently acquired properties in Jamaica and Barbados and interest income from short-term securities held.”
Earnings per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2019 totaled $0.01 compared to EPS of $0.005 for the corresponding period in 2018. The total amount of shares outstanding used for this calculation was 122,181,628 units. CPFV closed the trading period at $41.09 on February 13, 2020.
CPFV noted, “We remain pleased with the Value Fund’s performance and continue to focus on not only improving operational efficiency but scaling the portfolio to further achieve regional and asset type diversification. We have now deployed most of the capital raised in our JSE listing and closed all of the acquisitions outlined in our prospectus. We expect to deploy the remaining proceeds over the next few months. These acquisitions will remain in line with the Fund’s investment strategy of acquiring strong yielding, high-quality commercial real estate throughout the Caribbean.”
Balance Sheet Highlights:
As at December 31, 2019, total assets amounted to $101.77 million, 87% more than prior corresponding period’s $54.46 million in 2018. This was attributed to a rise in Investment properties which closed the period at $48.76 million (2018: $17.77 million). Additionally, the growth in ‘Cash and Cash Equivalents’ and ‘Investments in associated companies and joint arrangements’ contributed to the overall increase in the company’s assets, closing at $26.19 million (2018: $8.29 million) and $21.78 million (2018: $20.53 million), respectively.
CPFV, as at December 2019, booked total shareholders’ funds of $86.43 million (2018: $39.05 million), which translated into a net asset value per share of $0.71 (2018: $0.32).
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