Jul 2006 Financial News

GraceKennedy releases Half Year Results

Jul 28, 2006

All figures quoted in Jamaica Dollars

GraceKennedy reported Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $2.72 for the half year ended June 30, 2006. This was 6.53 per cent down from 2005's half year earnings of $2.91. Quarter on quarter, the EPS was up 2.40 per cent to $1.28.

Revenues increased 4.99 per cent to $17.194 billion while Profit from Operations fell 2.39 per cent to $1.286 billion due to a 5.90 per cent increase in Expenses. Profit Before Tax fell 9.53 per cent to $1.298 billion while Profit for the period dropped 9.34 per cent to $908.784 million. Quarter on quarter, Profit for the Period was down 1.76 per cent to $425.072 million.

The Group attributed the fall in performance to weak consumer demand due to the cement shortage in Jamaica. While, there may be some downward pressure on the share due to these results, we maintain our recommendation of a Long Term Buy on this share.

Sreshtha Tewari
WISE Research Team