Christopher Williams, chief executive officer of Proven Management Limited, has expressed his frustration at the falling share prices of Proven Group Limited (PGL) which is trading at half of their one-year highs.

“It was painful for us because we saw our share price coming down and we wanted to react. Now, it’s [audited financials and first quarter report] out and we’re going to be on the phone talking to everybody getting the information out and making sure that the market understands that our share price does not deserve to be down 50 per cent. We’re very angry about that and we want to get our shareholders to appreciate that our business model is way more nimble than that,” said Williams at a media live on Thursday after the publication of the 2023 audited numbers and first quarter report ending June 30.

Proven’s 2023 audited financials were due on May 30, but the delay in numbers from its subsidiaries and associates resulted in an extended delay in filing the results. As a result, Williams noted that the company couldn’t even issue unaudited fourth quarter financials which left investors with only the December numbers which were published in February.

Proven Group, formerly Proven Investments Limited, has seen its Jamaican dollar (JMD) share price cut by 20 per cent so far in 2023 to $22.37, which is a far cry from the $33.96 peak over the last year. The United States dollar (USD) share price has also seen a 24 per cent year to date (YTD) cut to US$0.1449 and far from its US$0.23 peak in the last year. Both share prices hit new 52-week lows of $20.01 and US$0.1250 on July 12 and 31, respectively. Those were also the lowest prices recorded in over a decade. This is at a time when the JSE Index is down 8 per cent while the USD Index is up six per cent YTD.

Proven Group is a St Lucian international business company with a focus on private equity, real estate, wealth and banking. The company has paid quarterly dividends to its shareholders going back over a decade. However, it skipped its November dividend at a time when more financial companies were tightening their belts and some of its associates such as JMMB Group Limited and Access Financial Services Limited skipped their dividends. Proven also did not declare a dividend for the June period.

“The audit was so late that we didn’t even get an opportunity to consider it, but we have declared a dividend. Cash is fine, mark to market is improving as interest rates stabilise and hopefully start trending down next year. We expect dividends to start ramping up again,” Williams added on Proven Group dividends.

The company declared a dividend of US$0.0020 or J$0.3092 to be paid on August 31 to shareholders on record as of August 17. This will benefit Williams who is the number nine shareholder and former Boslil Bank CEO Ryan Devoux whose holding company Fides Investments Limited is the number one shareholder.

Williams’ comments come against the backdrop of a rough year for the Proven Group which saw its consolidated earnings swing from a US$14.91 million profit to a US$5.36 million loss for the 2023 financial year. The bulk of this associated loss was related to the US$10.12-million non-cash impairment related to Proven Wealth (Cayman), Heritage Education Funds International Inc and Access Financial with the latter having a US$6.61-million impairment of its carrying value.

“The interest rate rises along with a weaker growth trajectory of Access; it’s growing, but not growing as fast as our auditors would have expected. So, we had to take a mark down on the carrying value of Access and that mark down has to go through the P&L. That’s one of the main significant reasons we showed a loss for the financial year ending 2023. We’re not worried because we obviously think the discount rate will come back as interest rates return to some amount of normalcy. By the way, this is done annually. So, it can be reversed again through P&L,” Williams explained.

Had there been no impairment provisions, Proven Group’s consolidated net profit would have amounted to US$4.76 million. Higher interest rates also resulted in a sharp rise in interest expense while the commodity price shock saw the 50.5 per cent controlled Robert’s Manufacturing Limited suffer with compressed gross margins and see its profit swing from US$3.67 million to a US$274,000 loss. The sale of The César and VIA at Braemar brought in sales of US$36.68 million and US$2.03 million in gross profit.

“The three acquisitions that we did at the start of COVID have proven to be extremely successful. We’re very happy with them and doing a better job of digesting our acquisitions faster and moving them to the bottom line. We’ll continue that for the rest of this financial year and reassess whether we start getting aggressive on acquisitions again,” Williams explained surrounding the potential for other acquisitions.

Williams is currently serving as the temporary CEO of Proven Bank (Cayman) and Proven Bank (St Lucia) following the passing of former CEO Benjamin Freeman. Proven Bank (Cayman) received a US$3-million cash injection during the 2023 FY as business was ramped up under the new owners.

While the 2023 FY came with significant headwinds, Williams is looking forward to the 2024 FY especially as net operating revenue grew 17 per cent to US$17.74 million with consolidated net profit coming in 62 per cent higher at US$3.55 million in Q1. Robert’s Manufacturing also swung back into profit to the tune of US$1.56 million. Proven also benefited from the sale of the Lagoons in the Cayman Islands during the period where they received US$378,158 gross profit.

Total assets decreased six per cent on a year-on-year basis to US$1.04 billion while total liabilities decreased to US$893.42 million. Equity attributable to shareholders increased to US$132.75 million with the book value at US$0.1656.

Williams highlighted that the group is looking to the completion of the residential development Avista at Bloomfield in Mandeville and Ashgo Warehouses in the Cayman Islands by September and seeing the Sol Harbour and Bahari at Runaway Developments being reflected on the income statement by the 2026 FY along with the range of other developments. Sol Harbour has been reported as sold out with Bahari 70 per cent pre-sold.

He also confirmed that they are 95 per cent through the regulatory process in Barbados to open its Proven Wealth office in the country. This is along with the potential exploration for several real estate developments there and other Eastern Caribbean markets. Williams welcomed shareholders and other persons to join on August 10 for an official briefing on the plans going forward with all division heads.

“We’ve already done a couple of transactions out of Barbados using Cayman as the booking vehicle, but our relationships are extremely strong in Barbados. So, they’re looking forward to having us, we’re looking forward to joining them and widening our Proven Wealth footprint using the shared service model. Now that we’ve set up the shared services model, we’re able to roll out different opportunities a lot quicker and a lot more cost-effective,” Williams closed.