Apr 2008 Financial News

UCL Releases Year End Results

Apr 09, 2008

Unilever Caribbean Limited
Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2007

Earnings Per Share
For the Year Ended December 31, 2007, Unilever Caribbean Limited (UCL) reported Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $1.38, up 3.8 per cent or $0.05 on the comparable EPS of FY06.

Financials
• Turnover up 11.8 per cent or $43.9 million to $416.4 million
• Cost of Sales up 13.7 per cent or $30.4 million to $252.0 million
• Gross Profit up 8.9 per cent or $13.5 million to $164.4 million
• Operating Profit up 37.5 per cent or $14.9 million to $54.5 million
• Profit Before Taxation up 40.9 per cent or $15.0 million to $51.5 million
• Profit After Taxation up 3.6 per cent or $1.3 million to $36.2 million

Dividends
The Board of Directors has declared a final dividend of $0.65 per share bringing the total dividends for the year to $1.00 per share (2006: $1.10). The dividend will be paid on Friday June 27, 2008 to shareholders on the Register of Members at the close of business on Friday June 6, 2008.

Recommendation
The shares of UCL last closed at $17.25. We are forecasting an EPS of $1.40 for FY08 which at the current price translates to a P/E of 12.3 times. Additionally using a multiple of 14 times and the forecasted EPS of $1.40, this share has an expected return of approximately 13.6 per cent or a target price of $19.60. We continue to recommend a BUY on this share.


Nancy Chen
WISE Equity Research Team