UPDC Plc, an institutional property company, posted an after-tax profit of N59 million in the first quarter of 2024 compared with a loss of N157 million in the same period of last year, according to its latest financial statements.
A breakdown of the revenue by category showed that the company generated N752 million from the sale of property stock, N3.6 million from project/asset management fees, N347 million from UPDC Hotel Limited, and N197 million from the UPDC facility management limited surcharge income.
The firm’s cost of sales increased by 44 percent to N648 million from N448 million.
Here are four metrics that depicts UPDC’s financial performance
Profit margin
UPDC’s profit margin increased to 45.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024 from -18.2 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2023. The first quarter profit margin is the highest in at least 10 years.
This means that UPDC earns more money from each property sold or client served after deducting costs.
Earnings per share
UPDC reported negative earnings per share of 1kobo in the first quarter of 2024 from 1kobo in the corresponding period of last year.
Earnings per share (EPS) is a measure of the profitability of a company. Investors use it to gain an understanding of company value.
However, UPDC’s negative earnings per share means that the company is losing money or spending more than it earns.
Working capital ratio
The firm’s working capital rose to 419 percent in the first quarter of this year from 404 percent in the same quarter of 2023.
The working capital margin shows how efficiently the company can easily turn its assets into cash to pay short-term obligations.
Further analysis of the company’s financial statement shows that its current assets rose to N10.2 billion from N9.8 billion while its current liabilities rose to N6.01 billion from N5.8 billion.
Debt to equity ratio
The debt-to-equity ratio of UPDC declined to 122.7 percent in the first three months from 127.3 percent in the corresponding period of last year.
This shows that the company is relying less on borrowed capital and more on equity to finance its operations.
The debt-to-equity ratio measures how much UPDC is funding its operations using borrowed money.
