Variable performance
Sterling Products Limited (SPL) is about to complete its ninth month of operation in 2013 and its economic performance might well remain an enigma to its shareholders as the company moves towards its 59th Annual General Meeting next year. SPL, which is part of the Beharry Group of companies, is a monopoly in the domestic market with its competition coming primarily from imports of products similar to what it produces. SPL sells between 72 to 75 per cent of its output in the domestic market while the rest is exported. While export sales grew by 11 per cent in 2012, export volumes appear to have grown by 9 per cent in the reporting period. Despite the generally good reports, SPL has been turning in variable performances over the past six years as could be gleaned from the table below. The financing profile of the company shows that the management prefers to do things alone, and one could only wonder what to expect the next time management discloses its economic performance to the public.
The midterm economic report presented to the nation last month with recorded growth of 3.9 per cent should leave followers of the company thinking positively about SPL. But one has to remain cautious because the trend line of this company’s performance while it slopes upwards does so at highly variable speeds. While there were years
