Nearly 500% surge in profit during the period

Investment company, PanJam Investment Limited has registered a near 500 per cent surge in net profit during the half-year period amounting to $2.3 billion.

This is coming from $493.6 million for the comparable period last year. Net profit attributable to shareholders for the June quarter more than doubled to total $1.3 billion coming from $488.7 million for the same period last year.

PanJam’s positive results for the first half of the year were driven primarily by investment income of $1.1 billion (2020: $1.1 billion of losses), as the securities trading portfolio generated higher interest income as well as realised and unrealised gains. Property income declined marginally as a result of lower revaluation gains.

Six-month operating expenses of $867.9 million increased by 5.3 per cent compared to the $824.5 million booked in 2020. The earning per stock unit for the quarter was $1.24 (2020: $0.46) and $2.19 for the six months (2020: $0.47).

Core operations income tripled

Income from PanJam’s core operations almost tripled when compared to the second quarter of 2020. This performance was driven by an improvement in investment income, which grew to $868.9 million, reversing the investment losses seen in the prior year’s second quarter.

Property income declined by 13.2 per cent year over year, as reduced revaluation gains more than offset higher rental income. Operating expenses for the second quarter of 2021 increased by 16.5 per cent over the same period last year, as the company reinstated typical administrative expenditure in line with the measured return to normalcy.

Finance costs saw a marginal decrease to $222 million, as a result of stable average interest rates on a larger debt portfolio. PanJam Investment also reported higher earnings from its equity holdings in associated companies across the adventure tourism, business process outsourcing, hospitality, consumer products, micro-lending and office rental sectors.

The income from associated companies for the first six months of 2021 increased by $417.9 million, or 37.2 per cent, driven principally by its investments in Sagicor well as the by strong performance from its New Castle Company.

Balance Sheet

Total assets at June 30, 2021 amounted to $64.4 billion, compared to $62.6 billion at 31 December 2020 and $58.1 billion at 30 June 2020. Stockholders’ equity of $48.7 billion was relatively flat compared to the 31 December 2020 balance of $47.2 billion.

This equated to a book value per stock unit of $45.84 (31 December 2020: $44.47).