Barbados’ last remaining regional conglomerate is reporting a major revival in its financial fortunes as the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be easing.
In its latest public filings, Goddard Enterprises Limited (GEL) told shareholders that the first quarter of its current financial year produced net income of $24 million. And according to GEL’s chairman Thomas Herbert and chief executive officer Anthony Ali, that performance had already surpassed the earnings for the full financial year that ended on September 30, 2021.
In their Board Review which accompanied the financial highlights, Ali and Herbert stated: “This is a remarkable performance given the impact of the ongoing pandemic on the Group’s results during the preceding eighteen months.
The quarter’s results are reflective of a recovery in our Catering & Ground Handling Division as the region experienced a rebound in tourism and consequently increased airlift and passenger loads.
“Having incurred a loss in the comparative period in the prior year, during the quarter, the Division recorded its best performance since the start of the pandemic.
Despite the negative impact of the global shipping crisis on our input costs; the Group achieved a gross margin of 41.1 per cent compared with 35.7 per cent in the prior year.
The two GEL officials said changes instituted in the Catering & Ground Handling Division, with inherently higher gross margins, had produced a higher percentage of the Group’s revenues of $235.2 million.
Net income attributable to shareholders of the centuryold company of $19.5 million resulted in an earnings per share for the period of 8.6 cents. This was an increase above those of the comparative period of 60.1 per cent and 59.3 per cent respectively.
Regarding the performance of the Food and Consumer Goods joint venture, Caribbean Distribution Partners Limited, the Goddard Group officials described the performance as exceeding expectations.
“This is attributable to a recovery of regional economies during the period as a result of an increase in tourism activity and its positive spin offs across the region. Despite being faced with some logistical and raw material challenges during the period, the Manufacturing Division continues to perform well,” they noted.
Commenting on the current economic conditions, the directors stated: “The highly contagious Omicron variant led to an increase in absenteeism across the Group, however, there were no major disruptions to our operations. The Group continues to demonstrate its resilience with its strategies for recovery and growth.”
“Despite the continued existence of uncertainty with the prolonged pandemic, we are confident of a full recovery for the Group this financial year, given the predictions of double-digit growth for regional economies in 2022. We will continue to monitor closely and put strategies in place to minimise the effects of rising geopolitical tension in Eastern Europe and the global shipping.”
(IMC1)
