Advertising agency The Limners and Bards Limited (The LAB) is reporting an unaudited after-tax profit of $142.1 million for the nine-month period ended July 31, 2021, a 31.9 per cent increase when compared with the previous corresponding period.

Revenues for the nine-month period also increased by 37.3 per cent to $942 million. This was driven by the growth in media placement (up $142.4 million or 39.4 per cent) and production (up $115.9 million or 62.2 per cent) during the period.

There was a $2.4 million or 1.8 per cent reduction in agency during the period under review.

The company’s total asset for the period stood at $826.9 million, a 28.8 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year. Shareholders’ equity also increased by 20.6 per cent to $536.4 million in the nine-month period under review, up from the $444.9 million recorded in the previous corresponding period.

In addition, administration expenses for the nine-month period increased by $38.6 million, or 32.4 per cent in comparison to the previous corresponding nine-month period. These increases are primarily attributable to staff costs due to increase work volume, repairs and maintenance of production equipment, depreciation and amortisation charges and lease interest, the company stated in the report.

Even with this increase, The Lab indicated that administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue remains relatively flat at 16.7 per cent compared to the 17.3 per cent recorded in the previous period.

Earnings per share for the period under review ended at $0.15, an increase compared with the $0.11 recorded in the prior corresponding period.

The LAB created history by becoming the first of its kind to list on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange in 2019.