Caribbean Flavours and Fragrances Limited has seen its profit dwindle during the first half of 2021.

Profit from operations for the period decreased to $35 million coming from the $39.31 million booked for the same period in June 30, 2020. For the June quarter, there was an 11 per cent decline to $20.95 million coming from $23.42 million in 2020.

The company has also seen a 12 per cent increase in net finance income from $10.07 million in 2020 to $11.24 million for the half-year of 2021. Following taxation of $5 million, net profit for the period amounted to $41.23 million, representing a five per cent decrease from the comparable period’s figure of $43.26 million.

For the June quarter, net profit fell by 16 per cent from $29.04 million to $24.29 million in 2021.

Revenues also declined in the period

For the half-year period, Caribbean Flavours & Fragrances’ revenue decreased by three per cent to $301.30 million relative to $310.59 million for the comparable period in 2020. For the June quarter, the company generated revenue of $167.56 million, a four per cent increase year-over-year.

The management reports that, “this was largely due to an increased activity in the fragrance business following a noticeable improvement by our local manufacturing clients as the Jamaican economy began to reopen during the period.”

Cost of sales also increased for the period to $205.53 million, this compares to the prior year’s figure of $211.83 million, representing a decrease of three per cent year-over-year.

Consequently, gross profit fell to $95.77 million for the period in review and compares to the prior year’s amount of $98.76 million. For the quarter, gross profit closed at $51.25 million (2020: $50.92 million).

The company had a two per cent year-over-year increase in total expenses to $60.78 million, up from $59.45 million in 2020. There was a 25 per cent contraction in selling & distribution expenses to $1.60 million.

Administrative expenses for the period climbed to $59.18 million versus the prior year’s corresponding total of $57.33 million. As at June 30, 2021, Caribbean Flavours and Fragrances recorded total assets of $675 million, an increase of six per cent when compared to $637.94 million for the prior year.

This increase was as a result of increases in ‘Short term investments’ and ‘Receivables and payments’ which closed at $260.16 million (2020: $234.10 million) and $112.83 million (2020: $103.26 million), respectively.