The directorship of Barbados’ last remaining locallyowned, regional conglomerate says it is experiencing signs of a slow recovery in the markets it operates in, and the group’s profits are beginning to reflect the stronger circumstance.
Chairman of Goddard Enterprises Limited (GEL) Charles Herbert, and chief executive officer Anthony Ali, reported on the nine-months fiscal position of Goddard Enterprises, and they told shareholders, the last of the three quarters represented a much-improved situation.
Moreover, after not paying a dividend for a year, Goddard’s shareholders will receive a $0.01 dividend per share later this month. In its consolidated statement for the nine months ending June 30, net income for the reporting period was $13.82 million, down 10.1 per cent when compared to the similar period in 2020.
However, net income attributable to equity holders in GEL was up 43.1 per cent, jumping from $10.75 million last year to $15.38 million for the three quarters so far in this fiscal year. “The period under review was predominantly marked with global travel restrictions, lockdowns, extended curfews and high unemployment levels as the world fought a second wave of COVID-19,” Ali and Herbert said.
In the Board Review that accompanied the unaudited financial highlights, the two senior officials of the company said: “Most of the territories where we operate experienced double-digit contractions in their economies.
We are seeing signs of a slow and steady recovery as during the last quarter of the period under review, the group recorded a net profit of $1.1million in comparison to a net loss of $15.3 million in the corresponding period in the prior year. “The initial effects of the pandemic were experienced by the group during that time. During the review period, gross profit was also negatively impacted by rising raw material, fuel, and freight costs.
Despite the challenges however, the group was able to demonstrate resilience with its balanced and diversified portfolio.”
According to Herbert and Ali, GEL’s Catering and Ground Handling Division was impacted the most by the pandemic, however, the company continues to execute its diversification strategy. They explained that restructuring and cost reduction measures taken at the initial stages of the pandemic, along with a steady increase in passenger loads, had brought about a “positive operating result” at the end of the third quarter.
“Though being the first positive operating result for the division since the start of the pandemic, we expect this trend to continue as global travel restrictions are lifted and predictions for increase in worldwide travel are realised. The regional automotive industry reported a decline in vehicle sales in excess of 50 per cent due to the pandemic.
“As a result, our Automotive Division incurred a loss during the period. We saw a small recovery at the end of the third quarter which we are hopeful will continue into the next quarter. Our Manufacturing Division recorded an increase in its profitability for the period under review, as most of our businesses were deemed to be ‘essential’ pandemic blow and were able to operate during the period,” it was disclosed. Reporting success for the Building Supplies Division, based on the improved performance of the Eastern Caribbean operations, the Goddard’s officials highlighted the much better year-on-year performance of that business.
Meanwhile, the Services Division of the Barbadosheadquartered conglomerate “performed as expected”, according to GEL directors, while the Shipping Division “experienced a decline in revenues which negatively impacted the result during the period under review”.
To this end, the directors disclosed that the Shipping Division was undergoing a reorganisation and expansion to offer new services.
They noted also that the food and consumer retail goods business remained largely “insulated from the pandemic” and GEL’s share of income from the Caribbean Distribution Partners Limited joint partnership increased by 23.1 per cent.
Touting the solid cash position of the century-old conglomerate, Ali and Herbert told shareholders: “The group’s liquidity remains very good and our net asset value per share was $2.52 per share at the end of the period. As the group celebrates 100 years of operation this year, we are proud of the growth and diversity achieved over the years . . . . “As our two mostly impacted divisions have begun to see positive signs, we are confident of a full recovery. After four quarters of not paying a dividend, we have declared an interim dividend of 1 cent which will be paid on August 31.” (IMC1)
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