Aug 2012 Financial News

ANSA McAL revenues up 9%

Aug 15, 2012

The ANSA McAL Group reported profit after tax of $283.7 million for the first two quarters of 2012 compared with $325.5 million for the same period in 2011. The group reported top line revenues of $2.7 billion for the first six months of 2012 compared to $ 2.48 billion for the same period in 2011 which was an increase of nine per cent.

These results were announced by the Group’s Chairman, Norman Sabga, at the presentation of the ANSA McAL results for the period January to June 2012 at Tatil Building, Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain. According to the Chairman’s statement, the profit before tax was $371 million compared to $426 million for the same period in 2011. The Earnings Per Share (EPS) was $1.40 compared to $1.64 for the same period last year.

The group’s directors approved an interim dividend of $0.30 per share which will be paid on November 9, 2012. According to Sabga, there were two events that impacted on the group’s second quarter results. “The reason for the drop in profitability is that we have made one-time provisions in our Barbados financial business where we made $45 million provision in our financial sector and also, because of the economy in Barbados, we decided to merge our two distribution companies and the severance payments of that merger was $10 million.

Both of those costs are non-reccurring so this was an adjustment and we will see the benefits flowing into the two quarters henceforth,” he said. He expressed optimism that the situation there would improve. He also said that the manufacturing sector in T&T was impacted by the shortage of cement and the slowdown of construction activity. Sabga said that since acquiring the Heineken brand the benefits are starting to be seen.

He also spoke about the clay block plant, saying that “it is very advanced in its construction and on time and on budget.” Progress has also been made in the automotive sector. “We are presently building new automotive showrooms, one for BMW and we have just started one for Ford and Range Rover and Jaguar is about to be completed as well.

Three new car showrooms,” he said. Speaking about last weekend’s floods, he said all insurance claims coming to Tatil will be settled as quickly as possible. “We are expecting quite a few claims coming through which we will try to address and settle as fast as possible to have everyone bring their life back to normalcy. We are disheartened by the photos and the amount of flooding that has taken place. The group is involved in many parts of the economy with building materials, paint, furniture and appliances so clearly some of our businesses will sell products to these people and hopefully they will buy the best, at the best price at the best quality,” he said. He described the holiday on Monday as “disruptive.”

“From a business standpoint it was somewhat disruptive because we had very little time to plan. Many of our companies operate on a continuous shift, we have plants that operate 24/7. But our teams got together and we kept the plants running. It was a costly exercise. When I looked at the level of patriotism, we needed all the dose of good news we got. It was a good feeling. In hindsight it was a good decision,” he said.


Source:
Raphael John-Lall
Trinidad Guardian
Wednesday August 15, 2012

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2012-08-15/ansa-mcal-revenues-9