The Computer Centre generated operating profits of $642,190 on sales of $6,127,042 in 1998 compared with profits of $405.061 on sales of $6,273,039 in the 14-month period ended December 31, 1997. The President, Mrs. Wilson, noted that sales of PCs and other IBM equipment was particularly strong in the second half of the year but margins are under constant pressure.
BCS Agencies contributed $572,337 to operating profits in 1998 compared with $619,614 in the 1997-year and their Communications division added $72,072 to operating profits in 1998 compared with a loss of $51,073 in the 14 month period ended December 31, 1997.
Corporate and overhead costs in 1998 amounted to $298,654 compared with $251,644 in the 14 months ended December 31, 1997.
Consulting revenues of the Agency continue to grow and at present seem limited to the Company's capacity to meet demand for such services. This is particularly true in the area of Y2K consulting as customers find that they are not able to address this problem on a timely basis with their internal resources. The revenues of the Communications division continue to grow as additional customers are connected to the Company's network, which forms part if the IBM Global Network.
At the end of December the Company acquired a building on Dundonald Street, formerly occupied by Staples Limited at a cost of $2.3 million. These new premises allow us to consolidate all our operations in one location replacing rental in The Bermuda Telephone, Dallas and Craig Appin buildings. This move should, in turn, increase communication between divisions, streamline operations and improve services for our customers.
Total assets of the group at December 31, 1998 amounted to $6,357,225 including fixed assets of $2,437,095 compared with $3,784,270 and fixed assets of $108,192 last year. The company had cash and time deposits of $1,581,400 at December 31, 1998 compared with $1,008,356 last year and shareholders equity has increased from $2,069,045 last year to $2,786,991 at December 31, 1998.
At the Board of Directors meeting held today, the Directors decided to maintain the present quarterly dividend rate of $0.25 and in view of the increase in earnings and available cash reserves, the Directors declared and extra dividend of $1.00 to be paid on April 15, 1999 to shareholders of record March 31, 1999.