BANKS DIH Limited on Sunday announced that the group has made an unaudited profit of $2.54B before tax over the past six months, (period ending March 2017) as compared to $4.09B for the same period last year.
In an advertisement in the daily newspapers, Chairman of the Company,Clifford Reis, C.C.H,said the aforementioned profit for 2016 included a gain of $1.375B arising from the sale of the Company’s holding of ordinary shares in Banks Holdings Limited.
The interim financial statements for the half year stated that the unaudited operating profit before tax for the parent company stands at $2.05B compared to $1.95B in 2016, while the unaudited profit after tax was $1.32B compared to $1.22B in 2016, representing an increase of $100.0M or $8.2 per cent.
“On December 1, 2016,the company re-purchased 150,138,464 of its ordinary shares, representing 15 per cent of the issued share capital, from Banks Holdings Limited. However, Banks Holdings Limited still holds 5.88 per cent of the issued share capital of the company,” the chairman’s report stated.
Accordingly, the consideration for the re-purchase of ordinary shares was $5.524B, financed through cash resources of $4.524B and borrowings of $1.0B. Some $36.79 was the price per share and was based on a valuation conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in December 2015.
The valuation determined that the 20 per cent shareholding of BHL in the issued capital of Banks DIH stands at fair market value between $37.00 and $40.00 per share.
The Net Asset Value of shares as at March 31, 2016 was $27.13;September 30, 2016 was $28.54,and March 31, 2017 at $28.02, the report stated.
Meanwhile, the group’s third party revenue for the six-month period ended March 31, 2017 was $14.94B as compared to $14.60B for the corresponding period last year, representing an increase of $34.0M or 2.3 per cent.
The interim report said Citizens Bank Guyana Incorporated, a 51 per cent owned subsidiary of the company,achieved an unaudited profit after tax of $288.7M compared to $440.8M achieved last year.
In January, the bank opened the doors of its new $2.5B corporate headquarters and main office at lot 231-233 Camp Street and South Road,to better serve customers.
“The results of the group for the first six months were influenced by the maximisation of operational efficiencies, the increased cost of doing business and the reduced spending by consumers.”
It was noted that the Capital Expenditure Programme was limited to investment in critical areas in the long-term development aspect of the company. These included initial payments on a new biscuit packaging line, a new 1.7MW power generating plant and water storage tanks.
“In the second half year, it is proposed to complete construction of the new workshop facilities and the modernisation of Demico House facilities,” Reis said.
Meanwhile, Reis noted that the board of directors has approved an interim dividend of $0.27 per share unit to all shareholders whose name appear on the register as at May 18, 2017. The cost of the dividend payment will be $229.5M.
Notwithstanding the profits and plans, the company has made it clear that “the prevailing economic conditions and the limited supply of foreign exchange will definitely challenge our performance”.