Sep 2008 Financial News

Ansa McAl Barbados records profit

Sep 16, 2008

Ansa McAl Barbados, one of the leading commercial giants in the island, has seen a before-tax profit of $11.3 million in its half-year results, and the robust showing has come despite the challenging Barbadian economy.

The announcement came this week from John Bellamy, Chairman of Ansa McAl Barbados, as he noted that the figure represents a 5.8 per cent increase over the last year, even though turnover increased by a narrower margin of only 4 per cent.

Bellamy, in his statement of the group for the half-year period which ended in June, said: The half-year results indicate that our Group of Companies is on track to better the performance of the previous year in spite of challenges in the Barbados economy posed by the unprecedented rise in energy costs, food prices and the impact on the countrys main industry by depressed economies in Europe and North America.

However, even amid such challenges, Bellamy adds that the group will continue to focus on operations efficiency, cost control and growth opportunities in all areas to achieve further improvement in the second-half of the year.

Additionally, shareholders of the firm should be pleased to know that earnings per share of Ansa McAl Barbados have witnessed a slight increase when compared to the same period in 2007, moving from 65 cents to 68 cents and the Directors have approved a dividend of 10 cents per share to be paid.

Ansa McAl Barbados falls under the Ansa McAl Group, which is headed by Group Chairman, A. Norman Sabga.

IAccording to the latest Barbados Stock Exchange performance review, there has been a decline in the share price of the company, as the share price has moved from $20.14 to $16.20 . But the parent Group of Ansa McAl based in Trinidad and Tobago has witnessed significant increases in its before tax profit for the same half-year period. In fact, that figure rings in at TT $424 million or BDS $141 million which reflects a 16 per cent improvement over 2007 for the period ended June 30, 2008.

Norman Sabga, Chairman of the parent Group, explains in his half year report that sales for the period ended June 30, 2008 grew by 11 per cent to TT $2.6 billion over the same period.

He further states that those results are from pure organic growth, with all of our Sectors maintaining strong financial health and executing well in a tough inflationary market environment. In particular, we are pleased to note that the performance in the media and financial sectors demonstrates an improvement in the trend reported in the Groups first quarter 2008 results. The significant investments in state-of-the-art equipment have already started delivering operational synergies, and our management continues to find new and innovative ways to deliver quality products and services to our customers at the most competitive prices


Source:
Stacia Browne
Barbados Advocate
Monday September 15, 2008

http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=36814