Despite a $286-million, or five per cent decline in first-quarter revenues when compared to last year's, Jamaica Broilers Group's profit jumped 181 per cent to $430 million, giving the agro-processor what it said was its "best-ever quarterly profits attributable to shareholders".

Senior Broilers officials were not immediately available for comment on the financials to August 1, filed with the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday. But the most impactful gain contributing to the sharp profit appears to have been the more than half billion - $611.3 million - or 12 per cent decline in the group's cost of sales, at $4.6 billion, compared to $5.2 billion in the 2008 first quarter.

Contained expenses

At the same time, Broilers was able to contain growth in administrative expenses to four and a half per cent, at $557.77 million, while its distribution costs grew by less than one per cent to $132.1 million.

"Distribution and administrative costs were kept at the same level, quarter over quarter, as a result of cost-control measures implemented," the group's Chairman Robert Levy and CEO Christopher Levy said in the statement accompanying the financials.

The first-quarter profit was on turnover of $5.93 billion and followed full-year profit in 2008/2009 of $828 million, returned on sales of $24.6 billion. The quarter's return translated to 35.86 cents a share, against 15.09 cents in last year's first quarter.

The results would have been even better, but for taxation and a 31 per cent increase, to $147 million, in the group's financing costs, which Broilers said was because of higher levels of local- and foreign-currency borrowings for increased working capital and to cover the expansion of its ethanol operations.

Broilers completed the doubling of its ethanol refinery to 120 million gallons a year, which, the group said, had, along with a change in the plant's business model and the sale of inventory, increased profitability and generated strong cash flow, contributing to a reduction in the group's short-term loan profile by $722 million.

Revenue from ethanol for the first quarter was $2.23 billion, marginally higher than the $2.14 billion from its poultry operations, which, not long ago, was Broilers' core business and gave the group its name.

business@gleanerjm.com

Operations and facilities manager at JB Ethanol Limited, John Carberry (left), gives a guided tour and update on plant operations to members of a United States congressional delegation which visited the ethanol plant at Port Esquivel in St Catherine on February 20. - contributed