Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) announced today that it raked in its highest revenue ever which totals $21.862 billion. This was achieved last year and represents a 12 percent increase over revenue earned in the previous year.
In a statement to the media, the company said that the profit after tax was $3.279 billion compared to $2.6 billion in 2017, an increase of $679 million, or 26%. It said that earnings per share were $4.26 compared to $3.38 the previous year.
Further to this, it was noted that DDL focused on capital projects in 2018 which support the core business as well as projects that are a part of the ongoing programme of diversification. In this regard, it was noted that on March 16, 2018, a Barrel Warehouse facility was commissioned.
The company said that the construction and commissioning of this new Barrel Warehouse serves to increase rum aging capacity by another 30,000 barrels. In October, DDL said that preparatory work for the construction of a new and modern Blending Plant was started. This plant it said will utilize the latest digital technology to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs and will also replace the existing Blending Operations.
DDL said that this new Blending Plant, which is estimated to cost $465M, is expected to be completed by the end of June 2019. For 2018, DDL said, too, that Shareholders Funds increased by 16%.
It said, “Capital Expenditure totaling $2.187 billion, incurred during the year, was all financed by self-generated funds. Additionally, bank borrowing, in the form of loans and overdraft, was reduced by $1.437 billion from funds generated by the Group in the year…”
The Directors have recommended a Final Dividend of $0.85 per share which, if approved by the Shareholders, at the upcoming Annual General Meeting, would result in a total dividend for the year of $1.10 per share.
In the previous year, the dividend payment totaled $0.80 per share.
