Company's Performance Revealed

A General Meeting of the National Investment Company of Anguilla (NICA) has re-elected a number of persons to serve on the Board of Directors.

They are Cecil Niles, Chairman; Anne Edwards Secretary with others being Fabian M. Fahie, Kennedy Hodge, Vivien. A. Vanterpool and Vida Christine Lloyd-Richardson.

The meeting, held this week, also presented annual reports and financial statements for the years 1995-2000.

According to the Directors’ Report for December 31, 2000, NICA suffered a disappointing performance that year. The report continues in part as follows:

“After having reported four consecutive years of unaudited net profit, NICA is reporting a small unaudited net loss of EC$17,995 for 2000. This compares with an unaudited net profit of EC$85,592 in 1999. The net loss is due primarily to a decline in the value of marketable securities held in NICA’s investment portfolio. This unrealized loss is part of the normal up and down movement of stock markets… The Directors have no reason to believe that there is any long-term impairment of the company’s portfolio of investments in marketable securities.

“NICA is also reporting an unaudited operating loss for the year, although at EC$8,385 this is 43.6 % less than the EC$14,861 unaudited operating loss reported in 1999. NICA has only made an operating profit twice in its history to date, in 1997 and 1998, and overall profitability for the previous four years has been largely due to interest income and gains on investment. As NICA-s operations consists only of its relatively small National Bookstore business and the lease of its Sandy Ground warehouse property, it is difficult to see how the low or negative operating margins can be substantially improved….

“National Bookstore’s sales recovered to near 1998 levels, up 26% from EC$318,345 in 1999 to EC$400,720. This along with the increased rent income resulting from the extension of the lease of the Sandy Ground warehouse property, increased gross profit by EC$257,216 up 17% from the EC$$219,475 unaudited gross profit reported in 1999.

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