The continuing business downturn influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused BICO Limited to record a “modest” loss of $68 727 says executive chairman Edwin Thirlwell.
However, in the manufacturer’s executive summary for the six months ended March 31, 2021, he was upbeat about the future.
“The unaudited results for the first half of the current financial year continue to be impacted by ongoing tourist travel restrictions. The modest loss arising is due entirely to the national pause for the month of February 2021, when business ground to a halt,” said Thirlwell.
“Harbour Cold Store continues to provide an essential service to food importers, exports, local farmers and producers.”
He added: “Our loyal ice cream customers continue to enjoy the quality products produced in our state-of-the-art ice cream factory, which was commissioned in September 2020. A first export shipment was shipped to Dominica in March.”
The chairman said BICO “has been able to alleviate the full impact of the general downturn by a combination of belt tightening and careful control of expenses”.
“Whilst the future remains uncertain, there are signs of better times in the months ahead,” he said.
At the end of its 2020 financial year last September 30, BICO’s annual profit was $399 551, which was a reversal of 2019’s $195 239 loss.
Thirlwell also reported that BICO’s revenue was $14.6 million last financial year, up slightly from 2019’s $14.5 million.
“Notwithstanding the prolonged challenges prevailing, the company is well placed to meet local and regional demand for products produced by the new ice cream factory. After several false starts, the availability of a vaccine will hopefully give tourists the ability and the confidence to travel and restart the local economy in 2021,” he said.
“Overall we managed to avoid any redundancies due to the virus, and to produce a credible result at year end. We are grateful for the full cooperation of staff in protecting the viability of the company in very difficult circumstances.” (SC)
