PriceSensitive

Wall Financial’s poor Q4 doesn’t hit full-year figures

Real Estate
TSX:WFC
24 April 2020 10:31 (EDT)

Wall Financial Corporation (TSX:WFC) has reported mixed results in its 2020 financials, which are expected to deteriorate further during the pandemic.

Wall Financial manages real estate in British Columbia. The company’s properties include hotels, residential building and rental apartments throughout the province.

Overall, the company’s 2020 performance was strong. Full-year net earnings were up to C$122.5 million from around $55 million the year before. Revenue was also higher, at $478.3 million versus $454 million in the year previous.

However, Wall’s strong performance was not reflected in its fourth quarter. In the three months leading up to January 31, the company only generated $32 million in revenue, which is more than $100 million less than in the previous year.

This resulted in net profits for the last quarter dropping down to just $5.6 million compared to around $37 million in 2019.

The industry environment has since deteriorated further, and the company expects the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to significantly affect its operations in the coming months.

Canada-wide travel bans and disruptive quarantine lockdowns have affected the company’s hotel operations most drastically.

As a result, the company has been forced to cut costs to help manage cash flow during the pandemic. Toward this end, Wall Financial has closed one its two towers at its British Columbia hotel and furloughed all non-essential staff at its operations.

With the length of the pandemic still uncertain, the company expects to see operating figures from its hotels decline in the near-term or until normality returns to the industry.

The pandemic has already had a noticeable impact on the company’s share price. Since COVID-19’s effects began to hit global markets in late February, the company’s market share has drop more than 30 per cent.

Before the market opens, Wall Financial Corporation (WFC) is trading at $21.50 a share, with a market cap of $725.5 million.

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