Barbadian-based companies continue to underperform within Trinidad and Tobago-headquartered conglomerate Neal & Massy Holdings Ltd.
The regional company which owns a number of major corporate entities in Barbados has reported a TT$203 million (BDS$63.4 million) drop in profit attributable to shareholders for the year ended September 30, 2011.
According to consolidated financial statements for the 12-month period, profit attributable to equity holders reached TT$98 million (BDS$30.6 million) compared to TT$301 million for the same period in 2010.
However, chairman Arthur Lok Jack said the group experienced “healthy” third-party revenue growth of 6.6 per cent, growing from TT$8 billion to TT$8.5 billion (BDS$2.7 billion).
He noted that excluding the performance of the Financial, Property and Other business unit, all other units performed well and showed a 14 per cent improvement in operating income before head office expenses.
This unit had the most challenging year, reporting TT$117 million (BDS$36.9 million) less profit before tax.
“This was primarily the result of reduced profits from SP Musson, which recorded an unusual gain from property sale in 2010, and Dacosta Mannings Inc. which continued to be constrained by lower consumer demand in Barbados, and United Insurance which has a number of non-recurring charges.”
The group also incurred “one-off costs for a strategic planning engagement to other expenses”, Lok Jack said.
The chairman said the net effect of these combined elements was a 5.6 per cent decline in profit before tax, from TT$715 million in 2010 to TT$640 million (BDS$201.6 million) in 2011.
The board agreed to declare a final dividend of TT$0.86 which, when added to the interim dividend of TT$0.43, gives a total dividend for the year of TT$1.29 compared to TT$1.26 in 2010.
