The Medine Group recently reported its financial performance for the quarter ended 30 September 2023.
The group’s income grew by nearly 60% to reach Rs 985m compared to Rs 620m in the previous year, resulting in an EBITDA of Rs 224m – a 53% increase from the previous period.
However, despite the growth in operating profits, the group’s net profit of Rs 158m was lower than the previous year’s Rs 266m due to a gain on the sale of land in that quarter recorded during the previous year.
The slow start to agriculture operations in the year is attributed to a delayed harvest due to lower cane harvest of 107,085T (FY23: 143,355T) and sugar tonnage of 8,555T (FY 2023: 11,931T), resulting in revenue of Rs 362m (FY 23: Rs 386m) and EBITDA of Rs 76m (FY 23: Rs 110m).
Property operations, on the other hand, recorded a significant growth in revenue and EBITDA, with revenue increased by fivefold to Rs 429m (FY 23: Rs 85m) and EBITDA increased by fourfold to Rs 106m (FY 23: Rs 25m).
This was attributed to robust sales of several residential projects and strong occupancy levels in the Build and Lease portfolio.
Leisure operations such as Casela witnessed improved performance as well, with revenue increasing by 28% to Rs 115m (FY24: Rs 115m; FY23: Rs 89m) and Sports & Hospitality revenue increasing by 42% to Rs 59m (FY 24: Rs 59m; FY23: Rs 42m).
The number of visitors to Casela remained comparable to the same period of the previous year, with 91k visitors and a higher percentage of tourists (52% compared to FY23’s 41%).
The group maintained a net debt of Rs 4.9bn as of 30 September 2023, but finance costs increased by Rs 15m due to rising interest rates, despite the lower level of debt compared to the corresponding period last year.
Source: Stock Exchange of Mauritius
