AFTER-TAX PROFITS at furniture retailer Courts Jamaica fell by about 39 per cent, according to unaudited results for the nine-month period ended December 31, 2000.
Profit after taxation was $312 million compared with $435 million during the same period in 1999.
Courts continues to see lower sales as turnover fell by close to 16 per cent in the review period to $3.6 billion from $4.2 billion the previous year.
Hayden Singh, Courts' managing director, said in a statement last year, "Our hire purchase portfolio continues to be our main focus and is showing signs of improvement."
At that time the retailer cut charges on its hire purchase plans to stimulate sales.
Operating profit in the period under review dropped significantly by about 75 per cent from $1.4 billion in 1999 as Courts continued its strategy of implementing lower service charges on credit sales, higher discounting and increased bad debt provision. On a positive note, finance costs were cut by 14 per cent to $141 million.
Courts transferred significantly less of the operating profit to deferred profit $210 million compared with $626 million in 1999. Pre-tax profit therefore declined from $653 million to $468 million.
Earnings per stock unit were 32.53 cents compared with 45.39 cents (restated for bonus share issue) in 1999.
