BHL grows …but share payout hits cash flow

Barbados’ economic turnaround continues to boost the revenue base of the island’s largest beverage conglomerate.

Banks Holdings Limited (BHL), the parent company of Pine Hill Dairy, Banks Breweries Ltd and Banks Distribution Ltd, has reported what it described as “another quarter of sequential growth”.

In the company’s unaudited Summary Statement of Financial Position and accompanying Directors’ Statement for the half year ended June 30, 2023, the group reported total revenue of $73.94 million and profit from operations of the parent and subsidiaries of $9.84 million.

With net after-tax income of $8.44 million for the review period, BHL said this compared to net profit for the half year of 2022 of $6.36 million.

In the Directors’ Statement signed by Chairman Caio Miranda and Country Manager Shafia London, they stated the growing bottom line was driven by “increased momentum in the sales organisation and improving macro-economic conditions”.

They also disclosed the first half of 2023 saw growth in the group’s market share despite upward price adjustments for inflation. According to London and Miranda, they are expecting continued momentum into the third and fourth quarters which include the important Christmas holiday season.

“Revenue was $73.9 million for the quarter, an increase of nine per cent compared to our performance for the same period in 2022. This increase was driven by our commercial strategies, the addition of new customers and increased penetration within existing customer accounts, resulting in volume growth . . . compared to the same period in 2022,” Miranda and London told stakeholders.

At the same time, the two senior company executives disclosed that at the end of its first quarter, BHL received clearance to settle long outstanding dividend liabilities to its majority shareholder.

The chairman and country manager said the first of these payments started last March and were primarily driving a reduction in net capital of four per cent. The dividend payment was also responsible for BHL’s decreased cash flows compared to 2022.

“We do not anticipate any significant changes in the macroeconomic environment or any major supply chain disruptions in the foreseeable future. Therefore, we expect to remain on the same trajectory of maximising our delivery to markets while reducing operational expenses and maximising value to our stakeholders,” London and Miranda stated. (IMC1)