Dolphin Cove secures another line of credit, bullish on business
Published:Wednesday | May 19, 2021 | 12:06 AMKarena Bennett/Business Reporter
Marine park operator Dolphin Cove Limited is banking on a resurgence of foreign visitors, with a yen for adventure, to paddle its way back to profitability in the June quarter, having seen hopeful signs in the period ending March.
The company made a loss in the January to March period, but the quarterly bleed of US$154,000 reflected a shrinkage, relative to the average quarterly loss of US$282,000 experienced in the year of the pandemic’s onset.
Chairman Stafford Burrowes attributed the shift to a reported 24 per cent increase in tourist arrivals in March, which positively impacted Dolphin Cove’s sales in the second half of the month.
Cost containment measures, including the phased reopening of its parks and part-time operation for the locations that are open, also allowed Dolphin Cove to maintain what Burrowes described as “a slim and controlled operation”.
“As a result of the measures implemented, the company reached a quarterly operating profit for the second time since we resumed operation,” he said.
The company earns most of its earnings from foreign investors, but had been forced to rely mostly on local patronage last year, which supplied around 80 per cent of its business, when the travel market dried up.
For the March 2021 quarter, the park earned revenue of US$739,000, a quarter of the US$3.29 million earned in the same period in 2020, income that flowed in just ahead of the coronavirus being detected in Jamaica.
Burrowes expects the shift back towards more foreign customers to continue based on outreach to Dolphin Cove and tour reservations from cruise ship operators, one of its largest revenue earners.
Still, the company, cautious about any unforeseen disruptions to the tourism market, has secured a further US$1 million credit line atop the US$1 million initially secured by the marine park last September from banker Sagicor.
The marine park has used up US$600,000 of the first facility on general expenses, Burrowes said.
“We don’t think we will need the additional US$1 million, but they approved it for us just in case,” he said.
The had more than US$900,000 in working capital at the end of March.