By McPherse Thompson, Staff Reporter 
Levy
THE Jamaica Broilers Group said that with a turnover of $6.4 billion, due mainly to an increase in the sales of its Best Dressed Chicken, the results of its last financial year represented the company's best performance ever.
The Group's turnover was just six per cent above the figure recorded in the previous financial year, but with operating profit increasing by $45 million to $485.7 million, and after tax profit moving by $24.6 million to $338 million, the directors said the fact that it achieved such performance "during the year of greatest change is commendable."
Last year, the Jamaica Broilers Group, in its continued effort to rationalise its operations, relocated the company's main offices from Hope Road, St. Andrew to McCooks Pen, St. Catherine. The move came against the desire of the company to re-focus its efforts on its core business of poultry rearing.
During the previous three years, the Group had to streamline its operations in the face of competition from imported chicken, which severely affected the Group's profits. The restructuring efforts were also aimed at tackling a looming $800 million debt stock.
In the audited consolidated results for the year to April 27, this year, directors Robert E. Levy and Malcolm McDonald, said a 0.8 per cent increase in its gross margins to 25.6 per cent reflected continued efficiency improvements as the company strived for international competitiveness in its operations.
Operating expenses increased by 11 per cent, due mainly to increases in distribution costs to enhance customer service, which in turn triggered an increase in operating profits.
According to the results, finance costs went down by $44 million, due to the restructuring of the company's debt portfolio. Jamaica Broilers' associate company, Capital and Credit Holdings, also recorded increased profitability for the eighth consecutive year.
Exceptional expenses of $26.6 million represented restructuring costs and provision for doubtful receivables, the directors said. The results showed that receivables grew by $667 million for the year to April, or $81.3 million over the figure for the previous financial year. Profit attributable to the Group after taxes was $338 million or 39.5 cents per share.
Jamaica Broilers said there was also a significant improvement in the liquidity of the company, brought about by the conversion of some of its short-term loans into longer-term instruments and the paying down of overdrafts. According to the Group's statement of cash flows, the company's long-term loans totalled almost $314.5 million at the end the of the financial year. Bank overdrafts and short-term loans was down to $343.1 million, compared with $594.5 million during the same period the previous year.
The directors said the improvement in the debt-to-equity ratio supported the Group's plan to move aggressively towards being debt-free by the end of the 2002/2003 fiscal year and to become a net earner of cash within that time frame.
