For the first quarter ended December 31, 2022, National Enterprises Ltd (NEL) recorded a net profit of $203 million versus $33 million for the comparative period in 2021.
This continued strong performance is driven by a significant increase in dividend income of $201 million compared to $2.8 million in the comparative quarter of 2022, and a 90 per cent increase in investment income of $2.3 million from $1.2 million in the previous year’s comparative, chairman Ingrid Lashley said in the condensed financial statements.
According to the NEL, prevailing global ammonia prices enabled improved results from the Trinidad Nitrogen Company Ltd (Tringen), yielding a persistent and foreseeable flow of dividends to NEL for this financial year.
This has resulted in NEL’s net cash position having grown significantly quarter over quarter, increasing 167 per cent to $350 million in the first quarter of the financial year 2023 from $131 million at the end of the last quarter of the previous 18-month period ended September 30, 2022.
Looking ahead Lashley said, “As we continue to operate in an economic environment that is evolving from economic and market uncertainty, we remain focused on seizing the opportunities for optimising returns for our shareholders.
“For this, the Board will consider quarterly dividends to shareholders for the financial year ended September 30, as inflows permit.”