-8% down from 2007, turnover up 16%

J.P. Santos and Company Ltd. a subsidiary of John Fernandes Ltd. has reported $127.9M in after tax profits for 2008, an 8 per cent decline compared with the previous year.
According to the company’s 2008 Annual Report, the profit declined from $139.036m in 2007.

Bounty Supermarket, Water Street

The reduction in the company’s 2008 profits is linked to what the report describes as “a significant increase” in taxes last year. In 2008 taxes paid by the company increased by 32 per cent from $69.476m in 2007 to $91.981m last year.

Despite reduced profits the report says that the group had “an excellent year’ with its turnover increasing by 16.26 per cent from $2.329 bn in 2007 to $2.708 bn last year.

The company’s Board of Directors has proposed a dividend of $1 per share, which, taken with two earlier interim $1 dividends per share, which have already been disbursed to shareholders, will bring the total dividend for last year to $3 per share. If approved the total payout by the company for last year will be $57m.

The 131st Annual General Meeting of the company is due to take place later today and according to the report its Directors P.N. De Groot and B.A. Fernandes “retire by rotation” but are eligible for re-election to the Board.

John Fernandes Ltd. is the single largest shareholder in J.P Santos &  Company  with  shares totaling 17,264,825 or 90.8 per cent of total shares. The subsidiaries of J.P. Santos are Bryden and Fernandes Inc. and JPS Trading Inc. both of which carry on business in the local retail trade.

With the completion last year of the Group’s  $79.963 m Bounty Farm Meat Centre at Grove on the East Bank Demerara which was officially opened last September the company’s subsidiary, JPS Trading Inc. now owns three meat centres which are stocked with meats exclusively produced and  supplied by Bounty Farm Ltd.

The company has an authorised share capital of 40 million of which more than 19 million shares have been issued and fully paid.

The principal activities of the company are trading and rental of property and last year trading contributed $2,707,897,000 to total turnover and $140m to profits. During the same period rental of property by the company contributed $82.2m to turnover and $69.7m to profits.