The Banks DIH company registered after-tax profit of $6.77b for the year ended September 30, 2021, a rise of 28.6% over the previous year.
According to Chairman, Clifford Reis’s statement in its 2021 annual report, the results were achieved as a result of an increase in physical sales by 6%, the rise in dollar sales turnover by 17.7%, better yields from raw material utilization and management of operational expenses.
Revenue generated by the company in 2021 was $35.8b compared to $30.4b in 2020. The profit before tax for the company was $9.4b in 2021 compared to $7.3b in 2020.
The Board of Directors has recommended a dividend proposal of $1.70 per share unit which translates to a cost of $1.445b compared to $1.147b in 2020. A first interim dividend of $0.30 per share was paid on May 25, 2021 and a second interim dividend of $0.40 per share was paid on October 25, 2021. The final dividend of $1 per share unit will be deliberated on at the company’s AGM on Friday, January 28.
Reis in his report to the shareholders said that the financial year presented challenges mainly resulting from the COVID-19 measures.
“There were unavoidable increases in the cost of raw and packaging materials, spares and fuels as well as their availability due to the global supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic”, Reis said, adding that the company was able to mitigate some of these impacts by investment in upgraded plant and machinery.
Capital projects during the year included the upgrading of the malts packaging line while the soft drinks plant saw upgrades to the blowmoulder, filler, labeler, shrink wrapper and pallet wrapper.
The Trisco Division also saw several upgrades and the route to markets was bolstered by the purchase of new trucks and forklifts. Reis said that at the time of reporting several capital projects were ongoing. These include the acquisition of lands at Vreed-en-Hoop and Bartica for the construction of two new Qik Serv Restaurants. Meanwhile, the Soft Drinks Plant Syrup Room and Blending Facility are being upgraded to produce Minute Maid products. A new Bottled Water packaging line is to be installed at the Industrial Site location.
Reis noted that the Board of Directors had last year approved a modification to the company’s business model. He said that the most recent addition to the group, Banks Automotive and Services Inc will be the division to lead in the development of the company’s future solar power and automotive initiatives.
