Camellia profit to take a hit after BF&M disappointment

Tea-focussed agriculture holding company Camellia said in an update on Wednesday that its expectations for underlying profit before tax were unchanged for 2022, with the exception of BF&M, which announced third quarter results “significantly below” what was anticipated on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm said BF&M reported a shareholders' net loss of BMD 13.4m (£11.01m) for the nine months ended 30 September, compared to net income of BMD 19.5m year-on-year.

Net income from operations after excluding the negative fair value movements in investments totalled BMD 9.3m, down from BMD 17.8m in the first nine months of 2021.

“Despite the economic headwinds and investment market volatility that continue to impact BF&M results, BF&M's underlying business is trending favourably, with property and casualty benefiting from a strong rate environment and minimal exposure to Hurricanes Fiona and Ian,” the Camellia board said in its statement.

“Group life results were strong, while group health claims remain elevated over pre-pandemic levels.

“The pension and annuity businesses remain well-positioned to optimise opportunities as the markets settle.”

Equity attributable to BF&M's shareholders as at 30 September totalled $294m.

Excluding any financial results for BF&M, Camellia said it believed that its adjusted profit before tax would be between 50% and 55% below that of last year.

In light of BF&M's third quarter results, it said it was likely that adjusted profit before tax for the group for the year ending 31 December would be lower than what it believed in its update on 22 November.

“However as a consequence of the impact of the volatility of equity and bond markets on BF&M's results, it is not possible for Camellia to forecast the likely full year outcome for BF&M with any certainty.”

At 1147 GMT, shares in Camellia were flat at 4,500p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.