Hard on the heels of an outstanding year, Benchmark has released its results for the first quarter 2006 and according to a release issued by the company it has registered an “excellent performance”
Again, it was Alliance Investment Management Ltd (Alliance) which, contributed the lion’s share to the performance. “Alliance contributed net income of B$831,950”, experiencing “strong revenue growth” that was 86 percent above the first quarter in 2005.
The phenomenal performance was attributed to “Alliance’s trading portfolio” which contributed “net movement in unrealised appreciation of investments of B$429,086”, the release stated. Meanwhile Benchmark’s investment portfolio’s contribution was B$30,918. The release stated that this amount “represented net movement from unrealised appreciation of investment”.
Not all of Benchmark’s constituents parts were in the black. According to the release, Benchmark’s “net consolidated profit of B$784,859 was provided by Benchmark Advisors (Bahamas) Ltd”. The following – Advisors, John S. George (JSG) and Benchmark all ended the quarter in the red with $4,409, $53,615 and $19,933 respectively.
Shareholders can take some comfort from knowing that though consolidated costs did increase by 11 percent, consolidated revenue was up by 75 percent. Operating on the principle of not having all its eggs in a single basket, the directors caution that despite the “diversity of our revenue
streams and the contribution of Alliance to the group”, not “to expect Alliance to perform in every quarter as it did during the first quarter this year”.
The reason for the cautionary note is due in large measure to the fact that Alliance makes its money from “the securities industry and the brokerage business” both noted for their volatility if nothing else.
$0.70
As of March 31, 2006 Benchmark’s net assets stood at $5,946,076 with a book value of $1.20 – a full $0.50 ahead of the BISX price of $0.70 – which is an increase of $0.16 ahead of the year end (December 31, 2005) value of $1.04. Net Profit for the period was $784,859 or $0.16 per share compared to a net profit of B$215,024 or 4 cents for the same period ending March 2005, the release concluded.
By: C. E. Huggins – Business Editor, The Nassau Guardian
