DOLPHIN Cove approved US$600,000 ($64 million) for expansion work on its Ocho Rios and Hanover properties, the company’s year-end financials indicate.

What’s more, the tourist attraction entered an agreement in 2013 to acquire another piece of property at a cost of US$750,000.

It’s not clear what the domestic expansion will entail, but the company is pushing to expand as it previously indicated that it would begin operations in Turks and Caicos by October this year, in time for the cruise ship season which runs from October through May. There are also plans to set up business in St Lucia following the opening in Turks.

For the year ended December 31, 2013, the tourist attraction increased its net profit by 28 per cent. It made $322 million during the review period, up from $250.8 million in the comparative period in the prior year.

The company posted $1.3 billion in gross profit, a 19 per cent increase over the prior year.

Dolphin Attraction revenues increased by 15 per cent, moving from $765.2 million in 2012 to $881.1 million last year, while ancillary service revenue for 203 totalled $460.3 million, up from $363.7 million in the previous year.

All of Dolphin Cove’s attractions, which include attractions, a restaurant and gift shops in Ocho Rios, Hanover, and other — a dolphin programme at Half Moon, Montego Bay, and horseback and plantation tours in Prospect — saw an increase revenue as well as in profit after tax during the year.

But ‘other’ was the outstanding performer for the year, more than quadrupling its bottom line, no tax deduction was recorded for that segment.

For the year ending December 2013, other activities posted, $120.5 million in revenues during the year ended December 2013, up from $87 million in 2012.

Its net profit moved from $2.9 million in the prior year to $27.1 million during the period under review.

Ocho Rios made $1.1 billion in sales for the 12 months ended 2013, up from $971 million in the prior year. That location posted $220.3 million in net profit for the year under review, up from $171.9 million in the prior year. Dolphin Cove Negril in Hanover made $354 million in revenue compared to $300 million in the prior year. It posted $93.6 million in net profit, up from $75 million in the previous year.

Expenses incurred by the company was 15 per cent higher than the comparative year; Dolphin Cove spent $834.6 million during the review period, up from $726.8 million.

Other income earned for the year under review was $2.4 million, up from $924,000.

Earnings per stock unit was $80.07 for the year ended December 2013, compared to $63.92 in the prior year.