Half-year profit rises 50% to J$160 million

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Stationery & Office Supplies has increased its quarterly earnings with pre-tax profit more than tripling to J$71.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2026. 

This is up 210% over the J$23 million recorded in the same period last year and came, as a result of combined higher sales with tighter cost control. During the second quarter, revenue rose 5% to J$469 million, up from J$448 million a year earlier, while Gross Profit climbed 9% to J$270 million.  

The Gross margin expanded to 57.6% from 56%, as operating expenses fell 9% to J$211 million, through a combination of what management says is better pricing, product mix, and expense management.

“Getting the Gross Margin from 56% to 57.6% while revenue grew 5% tells you the pricing and product mix decisions we made are working, not just the cost-cutting,” declared a pleased SOS Managing Director, Allan McDaniel, explaining, “we came into 2026 knowing we had to fix margins, not just chase sales, and that’s what’s showing up in these numbers.”

Half-year revenue reached over $J$1-billion 

For the half-year ended June 30, revenue reached J$1.009 billion, a 2.5% increase over J$985.2 million in the first half of 2025, while pre-tax profit grew 50% to J$160 million from J$106.7 million. Gross margin for the six-month period widened to 56.6% from 53%. 

Earnings Per Share (EPS) for the half-year rose to J$0.06 from J$0.04 with quarterly EPS at J$0.03, up from J$0.01. Total assets grew 9% year-over-year to J$2.22 billion, driven largely by a 17% increase in cash and cash equivalents, while there was a 45% rise in trade receivables to J$210.2 million, which SOS attributes to increased business activity and a sustained push on collections.

According to McDaniel, “the results build on a year in which we pushed to diversify revenue beyond the domestic market, including expanding export shipments of furniture and stationery lines to Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, and Barbados as part of our broader regional growth strategy. Exports are still a small portion of our revenue, but they’re growing. The priority for the rest of the year is holding this margin level while we keep building out those export lines.”