Apr 2014 Financial News

Ansa McAl’s billion-dollar milestone

Apr 03, 2014

THE ANSA McAl Group of Companies made for the first time in its history, over a billion dollars in profit in 2013. The Group recorded a profit of $1.144 billion compared to $952 million in 2012 before tax and saw record revenues of $6.2 billion compared to $5.9 billion in 2012.

The Group’s earnings per share has gone to a record $4.31 and as a result the company increased the dividend to $1.30 per share, which ANSA McAL group chairman and CEO A Norman Sabga said was a record payment of dividends.

Sabga said the Group’s operating profits have gone up 14 percent and the company’s taxation rose to 31 percent but even with that, the Group’s profit after tax was over 18 percent.

Aneal Maharaj Group Finance Director said the sectors that did “remarkably well” were the financial, automotive and media sectors. He said regionally all of the geographical territories did well but in Barbados their business continues to struggle because of the sluggish economy.

“We have confidence that growth will return and we will continue to reinvest in Barbados,” he said.

Nicholas Mouttet, President and Chief Executive Officer, ANSA McAL (Barbados) Ltd said the company has been restructuring for the last few years.

“We have been reducing our operating costs in Barbados. Profits are up year on year and the debt is reducing but we do have significant plans ahead to deal further with the debt and also to reinvest in Barbados and try to grow our business there,” he said.

Sabga said they always see the opportunity to improve on what they do and to grow what they have. He said in Barbados, they have closed their flagship supermarket - Trimart Supermarkets- and have plans to reopen at a next location.

Commenting on the company’s investments, Gerry Brooks, Group Chief Operating Officer, said in its operations at ANSA coatings Limited, they were able to integrate both the Sissons and Penta plant and that plant was now positioned to do extremely well this year. In its chemicals business, he said, they expanded the plant by 20 percent capacity in 2013 which positions the company to be able to deal with new markets in 2014.

Responding to a question about the status of an agreement the company made with Guyana in 2011, Sabga said they could not proceed with their initial plans.

On September 30, 2011 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and ANSA McAL Trading Limited, for the establishment of an ethanol production project.

The plant was projected to have a capacity to process up to 2,000,000 tonnes of sugarcane per year and produce up to 40 million gallons (nameplate capacity) of ethanol per year. The project was expected to be built on 110,000 hectares of virgin land. However, Sabga said, the land could not sustain the planting of sugarcane.

“The size was adequate but the types of soil, were clay soils that would not yield the quantity of sugar that we would get a return on so based on that we could not proceed,” he said.

Sabga disclosed the company’s plans for the near future which includes a new Ford facility which will be opened next month He said the company has made a decision to open an automotive facility in Chaguanas for all of its brands. In the manufacturing sector, the Group has acquired a quarry and they were waiting on a licence from the Ministry of Energy. He said the quarry will assist significantly in its block manufacturing.

He also said the Group was looking at three acquisitions that they have signed confidentiality agreements on, but all he could say on it was that they were significant.


Source:
By Darcel Choy
Newsday
Thursday April 3, 2014

http://www.newsday.co.tt/businessday/0,192838.html