LASCO breaks into JSE top 5 with capital value above $34 billion
LASCO Affiliated Companies yesterday announced that its combined market capitalisation has broken into the top five companies ranking on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE).
According to the Lascelles Chin-owned company, its market capitalisation value is in excess of $34 billion as at November 10.
“With only five years on the Junior Stock Market, this remarkable boom speaks to the collective success and growth of the listed companies and their individual and collective leadership,” the company said in a news release, adding that it is the first Junior Market company to break into the top five.
The achievement, the company said, is also an indication of the level of confidence among LASCO’s investors.
National Commercial Bank, Scotia Group, Sagicor Group and Desnoes & Geddes rank ahead of LASCO.
“LASCO’s recent success is validation of my belief that providing Jamaicans with quality goods and services at affordable prices can realise value for shareholders and stakeholders,” the news release quoted Chin, the founder and executive chairman.
The company said that its recent reports of quarterly profits, well-publicised expansion plans and a transparent dividend policy all indicate further gains in the foreseeable future.
Pointing out that it has made significant investments in its brand, advanced its product development programmes and expanded its manufacturing facilities, the company said that the LASCO Manufacturing Limited (LML) plant and equipment jumped in value from $2.06 billion to $3.13 billion as at September 2015.
“Production at the liquid plant has grown steadily and the company plans to increase its capacity to meet the overwhelming market demand for the LASCO iCool line of beverages with the installation of additional equipment by the end of the financial year,” the release said.
“The new dry plant at White Marl, St Catherine, is now ready to be positioned to achieve full efficiency by the end of the financial year,” it added.
“New products will be introduced by the end of the year to enhance the product line which is projected to continue to realise significant sales,” LML noted in its financial statement for the three months ended September 30, 2015.
LASCO said that for the same period, LML saw a 97 per cent increase in net profit, moving from $126.7 million in the comparative period last year to $250. 3 million during the period under review. Sales for the period under review totalled $1.6 billion, up from $1 billion during the comparative quarter.
LASCO Distributors, the release said, has also seen significant improvements in its earnings. During the review period the company saw $370 million in profit, up from $177 million in the comparative period last year, representing an 87 per cent increase.
Revenue for the period under review stood at $6.9 billion, up from $1.8 billion in the corresponding period in 2014.
During the second quarter, LASCO Financial Services Ltd (LFSL) implemented some of its expansion plans for the 2015/2016 financial year.
“The company formalised its entrance into the microfinance market with the opening of its sub-agent branch in downtown Kingston, among many others on stream. LFSL also formalised an arrangement with Huawei to distribute a broad range of open market mobile devices to fill the gap in demand for the range of Huawei products,” the release added.
“The expansion contributed to an increase in expenses, up from $123 million in the comparative period last year, to $168.5 million during the quarter under review. Conversely, revenues for the three months ending September 30, 2014 grew by 19 per cent, up from $183.5 million in the previous year,” the company pointed out.
“The net result was a slight decrease of seven per cent in net profit during the second quarter. For the three months ending September 30, 2015, the company posted $60 million in profit, down from $64.5 million during the corresponding period last year.”