Future Energy Source Company Limited (FESCO) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Future Energy Source Company Limited, FESCO, closed out the third quarter of their 2023, 2024 financial year with their best quarterly performance to date. The company reported a significant 76% quarter-over-quarter increase in gross profit. You are watching the FESCO Q3 2023 earnings call on the Learn Grow Invest platforms. This call will remain available for replay on our Investor Relations curated YouTube channel. I'm your moderator for this call, Rene McDonald, the Investor Relations lead and Chief Operating Officer for Learn Grow Invest Limited. With me today is Mr. Jeremy Barnes, Managing Director of FESCO Limited. Please join me in welcoming him to the platform as he prepares to host this earnings call. Welcome, Jeremy.

Hi, thanks for having me.

It is always a pleasure. So just before I hand over to you, Jeremy, let us open with our word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we give you all glory on everything. We thank you for this opportunity to share the success of FESCO thus far. We thank you Lord God for this platform and for FESCO as a company and their willingness to be open and transparent with their operations and with their stakeholders. We give you thanks and we pray that your hand will be upon this broadcast, upon this live and that all will go well with this company in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

So over to you, Jeremy. Thank you again so much for taking this opportunity to be with us.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Jeremy Barnes, the Managing Director of FESCO. We are pleased to have this earnings call to answer any questions that you probably may have as stakeholders of FESCO, including shareholders and customers to ask any questions that you might have regarding our Q3 performance. You want to go through this slide. As you know, FESCO is acronym for Future Energy Source Company Limited. And we're in the energy space as a distribution company. We both operate -- well, no, we're proud that we operate in 2 sides of the business, which is we operate on the transportation and fuel side, and we also operate in the cooking gas side of the business, which is called LPG, which is a distribution of both propane and butane, FESCO. And as you can see, FESGAS, we're really proud of both brands. On the transportation side, we distribute our fuels through service stations and our industrial customers. We're proud to say that we're up to 21 service stations branded FESCO, the most recent being FESCO Port Maria, which was opened late December. We're really, really proud of the patronage that the public has shown and the support. And they're doing very well, and we're really proud of those -- the dealers, all our dealers, and we're really proud of that location. Also in the quarter, just start in the quarter, we opened Kitson Town, which is also doing well, and we're really, really proud of that. Again, this is one of our best quarters. It's actually our best quarter with regard to gross profit, which is up 76% to $423 million for the quarter. EBITDA, which is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, which is a significant number for us, that is also up 52% versus last year. Our net profit, though slightly down 2% is again very pleasing to us. We made a significant decision as a company because we went into the LPG space to spend a lot more on advertising. So as you can see, our advertising spend for just the quarter alone was, I think, $14 million versus $3 million. So as you know, if we spend less on advertising, we would have actually done better on the net profit side, but we have made a commitment to spend more on advertising for this financial year, and we're seeing the benefits of it on the topline. And year-to-date, our profits are again above last year, about 7.3% to total's about $466 million. And again, this year, we've had significant higher depreciation charges. I think our depreciation charge for the year so far is about $142 million. And our interest cost for our debt is well above, I think, $120 million so far year-to-date. So as you can see, there is really strong performance on the company when it relates to profitability, we'll be able to pay down our debt. We start to pay back principal on the bonds. And we're really proud of our performance financially. In addition, in this quarter, we've been able to acquire and utilized and distribute from additional fill-in plant in Portmore, I'm really proud of the staff there and the team that has integrated them well. We're really, really, really proud of the performance on the LPG side, we're going from strength to strength. And we're really, really pleased with our performance so far. Right. So as I mentioned earlier, we added our FESCO Port Maria service station, our 21st service station. And yes, we opened our second fill-in plant, that's LPG filling plant. As you know, in the LPG space, you have to somewhat manufacture our bulk or bottle the product, putting them in cylinders for distribution. So we have a second fill-in site, which gives us some geographic diversification a little bit, gives us some redundancy and protection with regard to being able to deliver the products. Having 2 plants gives you a safety net to ensure that you can always deliver the product to the customers. Another big news is that we've actually got an approval for our second -- will be our third operating location, but our second company-owned company-operated service station, which will be on Spanish Town road, which is the FESCO Oval. That property, we hope to have delivered that station to the public next year, around next year, July, I believe. It's -- we've been working on this project for a few -- for about 2 years now. We're glad that we're able to announce it now, and we're going to hopefully start construction in May of this year. This station promises to be -- put a lot of work into it, it promises to show the innovation of FESCO. It promises to show the diversification of FESCO because that location will not just incorporate the convenience store, we will have a drive through QSR. It will have all the grades of fuel that we currently enjoy throughout our FESCO network. It will have the convenience and the speedy throughput of customers. So we're really, really grateful to all the support that you guys have showed us throughout the time. And we have always ensured that even though our lines are long, we love the support, but we also -- we've also made it possible that you get service within a few minutes. So this station is well designed so that product receival from [indiscernible] does not interfere with service delivery and that the queues will be organized and you'll be able to get your gasoline pretty quickly. Additionally, at that facility, we're going to have some LPG distribution from a depot standpoint and will also for the community and because we're a lover of sports and all things Jamaican, we're going to have a small six-a-side football field there lit and also have at that facility a homework center, of course, people of the community can do their homework there with free WiFi and in a safe, well lit, convenient and comfortable setting. Also within the quarter, late in the quarter, late December, we also became the authorized distributor in Jamaica for casual water aisles. I think it's 2 strong brands locally. And I believe that over time, we'll build out that business and that distribution network, but it was a good marriage between 2 strong brands. During the quarter, we're proud to say that we part sponsored or main sponsors of the Shelly-Ann Fraser Packet Rocket six-a-side football competition, which were held at our FESCO Oval grounds. The competition was great, some excellent football, some great community building. Shelly is a wonderful person, and she's loved by the entire Jamaica and her community. We're really proud to be associated with her in this regard, and it's something that we have committed to continue sponsoring in years to come. It was a well-supported event, and we're really proud to be associated with the Pocket Rocket Foundation and with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. I don't want to list of all our donations for the Q3 quarter, but significant to us is the Strathmore children's home, which we do sponsored cooking gas throughout the year. We provide all the cooking gas needs. But also in December, usually have a gift giving. And this year, we sponsored them several mattresses and [indiscernible]. So it was one of our outreach programs for the quarter. And again, we're really grateful that you the public have put us in a position where we have some funds that we can actually be generous and be good citizens. All right. So the presentation of the financials. Again, turnover is something that is somewhat determined in our industry by the price of fuel, which we have no control over. But year-over-year, turnover has increased 13%. Gross profit has increased 76%, now totaling over $1 billion in gross profit. This is the first time in our history that our gross profit for our entire year is over $1 billion, and we achieved that in only 9 months. Again, this is -- has a lot to do with the expansion of our network and also going into the cooking gas space. We're really, again, thankful of all the support that we received at all our service stations across the country. We're really, really thankful, grateful and encouraged by your continued support. Operating profit has also increased 22.5% and operating profit is earnings before interest and taxes. And then profit before taxation, again, has increased 7% and net profit has increased 7%, and this is on a 9-month basis. And obviously, earnings per share has increased 7%. Assets. We're proud to say that we're approaching our -- as at today's date, we probably approach about $3 billion in plant, property and equipment. Again, to build out the LPG business is very capital intensive and PPE-centric. Again, we're going to be building out our FESCO Oval service station. So there will be an increase in CapEx and leading to PP&E expanding regarding the service station space, but also we'll be spending an increase in our investment in LPG. Again, LPG requires that we provide a cylinder for every customer and a cylinder to replace that cylinder when that person has exhausted their supply. So we basically have to have 2 cylinders for every home in Jamaica if we plan to get to every home. So we're here for the journey. So in the coming months, quarters and years, we will be spending CapEx expanding that LPG presence. And again, as I said, we're expanding our gas station footprint. So you will continue to see plant, property and equipment go up in the quarters to come. Equity, our book value of equity for retained earnings has expanded again. And retained earnings -- well, it's not just retained earnings, that is our book value equity because we did raise about $240 million due to the IPO. So the book value of equity has increased significantly. We're approaching sometime this year, we'll be above $2 billion. We did hit a milestone last year of about $1 billion. We should be surpassing $2 billion sometime this year. Again, that's a number we're very proud of. And again, it's a testament to us being able to produce profits. That has to mean we actually get capital in the business, and we've been able to -- needed to reinvest in the business because of the opportunities and return on investment that we have. So we've been able to expand our network growing from 14 service stations when we IPO-ed in 2021 to 21 service stations growing to 20 -- growing to 22 when we opened FESCO Oval. In addition to that, we have prospects for the service station, but we wouldn't announce them until they are at a later stage. But as I said to everybody we talk on these earnings calls, we do operate in different timeframes or we operate in many timeframes all at the same time. We do have business operation that is day-to-day current. So we're operating from day-to-day, quarter-to-quarter. But we also have annual goals through our budget. We have 2-year goals and we have 2- to 3-year goals, and we have 5-year goals. So as a Managing Director and a Board and the management of the company, we're always planning ahead in the medium and the long term, and we're also setting coming up with opportunities that we, at some point in time, will become the current opportunity. FESCO Oval was a project about 2 years ago, and now it's a current activity. And as I'm saying, we have many more of these activities planned, but I'll let you know or we let you know as time progresses. As they become more material and real, we'll let you know. We continue to generate significant cash and that significant cash is used to invest back into the business through plant, property and equipment, as I said, both on the LPG and on the gas side of the business. And we remain sufficiently and solidly liquid. As at the quarter end, we had about $300 million in cash and cash equivalents, and our net current assets was significantly higher than that. Our current ratio, which is a ratio of current assets and current liabilities remained strong at 1.31. Our operating expenses as a percentage of GM, gross profit surpassed 50%, but it's still at a control level. And again, as I said, there are some expenditures, including advertising, which we wanted to do this year to establish the FESGAS brand, and we're really proud and appreciative that, that brand has taken to the market in a strong way and is actually producing and matching up to our expectations or exceeding our expectations in some areas. So we're really, really grateful for your continued support. And our debt-to-equity ratio is below 1. As I said, we continue to pay down our debt, pay down our bonds and our mortgages. So we're reducing the amount of debt that we're carrying on our books. All right. Company outlook. I think I started on some of that before within the report. But yes, we are -- the next thing for us on the short-term agenda is to build out our FESCO Oval service station. That will be the third service station that we operate as a business. We are optimistic about that station. Again, it will feature -- so FESCO, FESCO likes to come to our community. We want to improve spaces in Jamaica. We've find that term a destination station. So we always want to create destinations that we all can feel proud of. Jamaica -- FESCO is a proudly Jamaican company. Our -- I wouldn't call them resident architect, but one of the visionaries of our companies regarding the architecture. Michael Jazz came for this spectacular design for FESCO Oval, very futuristic. It will offer QSR, a drive-thru QSR. It will also have a convenience store, ATM. We're going to have, as I said, a six-a-side, with six-a-side turf football field there, so the community can use. And we're a sports loving company. So we also want to use the facilities, but we'll have that facility there which would also include a homework center for the residents of the community to use and to be able to have free WiFi from us. In addition to that, we'll have a small LPG depot, so we're able to supply LPG to the neighboring environments. And in addition to that, as I said, we'll have our QSR restaurant. We'll offer all grades of fuel at this location. And I do believe that it will improve the aesthetics, the convenience and the whole environment, and it's something that FESCO strongly believes in that wherever we go, we should positively impact that community and always try our best to create a destination that people feel proud to go, patronize and support. In addition to that, as I said, going forward, we'll also be expanding our investment in the LPG space. Again, we have really, really done what we hope to have done and achieved a little bit more faster than we thought would achieve certain levels of market share. So we'll continue investing in that space. We'll continue to seek opportunities in expanding the gasoline side of the business, which is growing also. So what should you expect? You should expect increased and continued profitability from the company. We will not be paying dividends this year, and I don't believe we'll be paying dividends next year. And this is mainly a function of it's cheaper for us on a company -- right now for the company to retain earnings rather than to try to borrow. The cost of borrowing is high. Our last bonus at 11.75%. So what we have taken a decision to do to maximize the returns for our shareholders is to hold back on the dividend, save that interest cost. And then when we next pay a dividend, the dividend will be more sizable because we have turned, as you see, a company that used to make $100 million per year when we IPO-ed, that is making in excess of $150 million per quarter. So the next time we pay a dividend, the dividend will be much stronger and a greater nominal size and we will have taken advantage of -- taking advantage of a situation in which interest rates are not conducive to -- for you to borrow. It's just too -- the cost of funds is just too high at this point in time for us to borrow. So -- and we're growing, and that's the main thing. Sometimes you pay the dividends when you're not growing. But at this point in time, we have -- we're on a really strong growth path and our growth path is profitable. So as a Board and as a company, we have taken a decision to continue to grow, forgo the dividend in the short run for another year and then a bigger dividend when it's time to pay the dividend.

Thank you so much for that overview, Jeremy. I'm sure that the audience appreciates it. I know that the detail about the about the FESCO Oval is very encouraging for many.

So we are already seeing questions in the comments, but I'm encouraging those who are watching, if it is that you have questions for Jeremy, please put them in the chat, and we will address them now during the Q&A section. So to get started with that, Jeremy, you would have mentioned no dividends, right? And of course, that is a -- that's a major talking point for many persons, especially in this economic climate. So your explanation was very clear that debt is expensive right now. It is more cost effective for you as a company to utilize the funds that you have. So with the FESCO Oval coming up, are you saying that what you have in store, you are -- or what you have is adequate to cover the cost of the FESCO Oval? Or do you expect that you will need to take on additional debt for that?

Excellent question. So there are different cost of funds for various types of secured ventures that you do as a business. So in the past, we have unsecured bonds. We have partially secured bonds and we also have a mortgage. Now construction financing and a mortgage is one of the more attractive or least cost interest rates that you can get. So that interest rate is significantly lower than 11.75%. And for a construction project, we do hope and intend to access construction facilities to help build all that real estate development project. On the LPG and equipment side, that side of the business that is more unsecured bond because those assets are all over the place. So if you ask a direct question for FESCO Oval, do we intend to access the debt market? Yes. If you look at from a cash flow standpoint, from an EBITDA standpoint, do we generate enough to build that project? Yes, we do. However, our CapEx program for the upcoming year is significant because we do have a lot of significant projects coming in store. Those will include, again, building out the LPG business. Again, that is very capital intensive. We're -- we're gaining significant market share, and we want to continue to expand in that area. In addition to that, we have also other service station plans and CapEx spending that we've been making. I can't announce those yet until they're further along their development path and certain approvals have been granted by the relevant authorities. But we do have a strong pipeline of CapEx for the upcoming year -- for the upcoming next 2 to 3 years, which will necessitate us going beyond the cash flow that we do generate. And again, as I said, if you look at what we did in the last month, we do generate strong EBITDA, which enables a few things, enable us to, one, pay down the debt; two, service the debt because you have to pay the debt and interest. Three, it enables us to expand in LPG and it also allows us to expand our gasoline distribution business. So yes, we're generating a lot of cash, but there's a lot of room for us to grow. And at this point in time, rather than distributing that cash, we believe that we should invest because we do have significant ROI projects that we can invest in. So the goal is to invest now and pay a bigger and more substantial dividend in a year or 2 hence.

All right. Fantastic. Thank you for that. So we have a few questions from the audience that we want to get to. And we will start with -- the question from Omar Simpson. Was the last gas station a dealer-owned dealer-operated station?

Port Maria is a dealer-owned dealer-operated service station. As a company, we only operate 2 service stations, FESCO Beachwood and we operate Kitson Town.

All right. So we are having a bit of technical difficulty, but no worries. We will get that sorted. As long as you're hearing me, we will continue. Thank you for that question, Omar. Now Orvill says that he wants to know why it is that every time the share price is making headway, there's a sell-down. Now he understands that you do not control the share price. However, he believes that directors are guilty of that sell-down. Is there anything that you'd like to say to address that particular point?

Remember, shares are held by individuals. I have -- I don't have any control over anybody's personal financial decisions. But what I can say is that typically, people sell shares for personal reasons, whether they want to -- whatever that personal reason is. I mean, it could be as simple as paying for your children's education, buying a home, et cetera. But all of those decisions are personal. I do not believe at this point in time or any point in time in the past or the near future that it's a sell-down to reduce their interest in FESCO as a going concern. The directors are close to the business, but people make personal decisions with their own financial planning that are personal. I haven't done so because I just personally haven't had the need to do so, but personal decisions remain personal, but it has nothing to do with -- it's just a personal decision.

Thank you for that, Jeremy. We also have a question from Jerome and he's asking, what is the current level of profitability for FESGAS?

Excellent question. We don't break out into segments. We don't share those numbers. But we are -- it's accretive, put it that way. It is profitable.

Okay. Wonderful. In a follow-up to that one, there was a question from Sean Brown, and he was asking, does FESCO have intentions to do an acquisition, especially on the side of the LPG market?

Not currently, we don't have anything on the table. But generally speaking, even if we did have something on the table, we wouldn't announce it until it has materialized. But right now, we don't really have anything on the table regarding that. But it's something that we're open to, given the right opportunity.

All right. And one more question about FESGAS was there, and that question is actually coming from the Instagram audience. At what point do you think the LPG business will make a material impact to the existing earnings?

Excellent question. Again, I don't want to break down that segment for competitive reasons. But suffice it to say, if you just look at our numbers in aggregate, though the LPG business has come with increased depreciation, because I believe our depreciation year-to-date is about $143 million, because, again, you have to buy all these cylinders and assets. Compared to last year, on an EBIT and EBITDA basis, we are ahead of where we were last year. So it's making an impact. The business has not really run through 12 months of solid operation through our books yet. So in the next year -- in the year 2024, 2025, you will see a greater impact on our net income as it relates to the contribution of FESGAS and LPG. But giving you the definitive breakout between what is FESGAS and what is our distribution business at this point in time, we do not believe that, that is in the shareholders' interest in sharing that data because it compromises our competitiveness because we don't have that data for our competitors.

Understood. And I think it is clear that it is making some headway. So we look forward to greater growth from all segments of FESCO. The next question is from Jerome. Would FESCO consider acquisitions in synergistic industries that will allow for diversification of revenue?

Yes. Short answer to that is yes. There are some opportunities that develop from having destination stations. So there are some business that are attached to the business that we're in currently. Obviously, we're in the retail space as a CSR -- sorry, as a convenience store operator. We might expand further into operations of businesses within our ecosystem of the service station or the destination station. So there is some diversification plan around that area. We'll speak to that greater when we make those announcements. Further than that, we always look at opportunities to diversify. However, we do have some strengths in the area that we participate, and we do have a lot of experience and knowledge in the areas that we're focusing on, and we're focusing on heavily on the gasoline and the cooking gas space. And at this point in time, that space will account for the majority of our energy and time. But yes, we do think about and we do and will participate in diversifying our revenue sources. And again, it will start with the ecosystem of the service station and the destination station.

Sounds good. So Terence asked a question similar to what you have mentioned before, and he's asking, when do you believe that the profits from LPG will significantly outweigh cost for the depreciation?

Significance is a key word there. Again, we're just about a quarter into significant LPG earnings. So I do believe for the upcoming financial year, there will be growth in that area -- going to be analyzed in LPG business rather than it just being available and being deployed for less than a financial year. For the upcoming financial year, it will be deployed for a full financial year. So you will see growth in that area.

So though it is not broken out for competitive reasons, we should be able to identify some changes in the numbers at least?

You should expect a further expansion in gross profits for the entire business. We will not break it out, but you will see a greater expansion in gross profits because now you will have 12 years of annualized gross profits for LPG rather than half year...

Understood. So Jerome again is asking now with a further outlook, a 20-year outlook, what has the most potential in terms of profit generated gas stations or LPG?

It depends. I try to answer this question without giving now what we internally believe and what we internally plan for. We do believe that in 20 years or 20 years from now that both sides of the business will continue to produce significant revenue and significant gross profits for the business. And let me just leave it there.

Okay. We understand. Now from Instagram, we have another question. How do -- how does one find the requirements for a service station from FESCO?

Not really understand the question, but if you ask how do you develop a service station, FESCO branded service station?

I think that's what you're asking.

Right. If that's what you're asking, it usually service station is all about location. So it always starts with the location. If you have a location in mind or a property that you own, you can just reach out to us and we'll help you through that journey. But it all starts with the location.

All right. So can you just remind our viewing audience where to find you, how to reach out to you?

Absolutely. You can always reach us at [email protected] or you can dial our head office, what easiest is to e-mail us at, and you can go to the Investors section at our -- on our website and our e-mail address is [email protected]. You can e-mail us and you'll be able to -- we can carry along that journey if you so want to open a service station. Again, we've done this many times with people just like you. So it's something we're familiar with, and we're actually going down that process with people now, and we've done so in the past. It's part of what we've been doing since FESCO started. Again, most of our service stations are dealer-owned, dealer operated. So it's exactly what our model is.

All right. Thank you very much. Jerome is asking what are the net profit margins the company attains in a company-owned company-operated versus a dealer-owned dealer operated?

That's not something we would share. That's not something we would share.

Jerome is digging very deep here. So let us move along. Jerome again is asking, are there any plans to get into solar or battery storage?

Let me just -- if I'm going to start within the next 12 months? No, not within the next 12 months.

All right. I think we can move to this question from Sean. With the coming company growth, it's only fair to assume that expenses will grow as well. How can you assure shareholders that the bottom line will also see some growth along with the topline?

Excellent question. So our topline has been growing. And when we talk about topline, we don't really talk about revenue, we talk about gross profit. So gross profit has increased 76%, but profitability hasn't increased 76%. We're talking on a net profit basis. Again, this is a decision we took to -- for one, to increase our advertising spend significantly. I think we spend so far this year I think, in excess of $42 million, I think, compared to -- I can't remember if it's about $8 million or $9 million last year. So we've decided to go along a path of creating brand awareness, especially because we're into the cooking gas space. Again, we're starting a new business or we started a new business in LPG at around April. That doesn't mean that the revenue start when you start the business, but the expenses, interest, depreciation, all that starts. So on an annualized basis, when you start talking about gross profits, LPG will contribute much more significantly to the gross profits in the upcoming financial year and for Q4. And -- what we can say is that we have enough projects. And again, we always focus on a certain ROI project or projects that allow us to not just expand gross profit and -- but also expand net profit. So yes, the goal is always and the goal, and you will see it in the upcoming quarters and upcoming financial year. Yes, there is -- we anticipate an expansion of net profit along with gross profit.

That is very helpful and clear. Sean again is asking, he is stating first that you mentioned not paying dividends this year or next year because of growth reasons, which is fine. But what can shareholders look out for in order to know that the dividend drought period is soon over?

Right. So we don't -- at this point in time, we want to pay a dividend. We strongly want to pay a dividend, to be honest with you. We believe in generating not just capital gains, but also giving back a dividend to our shareholders. So what I can say, if the macroeconomic situation changes with regard to interest rates or if the junior market allows us to increase our -- we be able to raise or to APO, we can start to consider those areas for accessing additional capital. The challenge with our growing business is to balance growing the business and then redistributing profits back to the shareholders. We want -- again, we want to pay dividends. We want to get back to paying dividends in the quickest possible time. But at this point in time, it's just much more beneficial for shareholders to delay a smaller dividend for a bigger dividend, which will come from the growth in profits and growth in the business.

All right. And the final question from our audience at this time is from [ Bill Reeves ], and he's stating that sizable is relative when it comes to dividends. And he's asking what is sizable to you when you say a sizable dividend in the future?

All right. So our dividend policy speaks to paying a minimum of 25% of the gross profit -- sorry, the net profits of the company. So if you look at when we made about $100 million per year, that would be an aggregate dividend of $25 million or when we made $200 million -- approximately $250 million to $260 million 2 years ago, that dividend would be approximately $60 million for the year. And I think we paid $65 million in dividends that year. Last year, we made just $570 million, which would equate to approximately about almost $150 million in dividend. So as you grow the profit and the bottom line of the company, what would pay in dividend grows also. So if you look at those, I don't know what to tell you about this year or next year, maybe that's what you're trying to ask, but if we look at historical numbers, if we were to pay a dividend last year, it would have been 150 million versus PHP 65 million in the previous year. And if our profits continue to grow and the dividend policy is to pay 25% of that, you can see how it has been increasing by a magnitude of how our net profit has been increasing. So what do I call sizable? Well, historically, it has been -- it has moved significantly. Again, moving from $100 million profitability company on an annualized basis to $150 million thereabouts on a quarterly basis with yet room further to grow.

Thank you for that, Jeremy. One more question has come in. Are there any plans to diversify into renewables anytime soon? And if so, what aspect of it, if you're able to share?

And you're talking from a revenue and a sales side of the business? Or are you talking from a cost side of the business? Some of our service stations already utilize solar technology to reduce some of our costs. If you're talking on the revenue side of the business, not for this financial year.

Okay. I think he would have been referring to the revenue side, but it is good to know that you are already utilizing renewable energy within the company. So I had one last question for you. In the quarterly report, you would have mentioned the contractionary forces and some consolidation within the industry and that being a risk factor or -- yes, a risk factor for FESCO, how much of an impact is that having on the company? And how do you mitigate against it?

Well, there are quite -- well, the biggest, I guess, consolidation in the industry, I guess, was Massy Group buying IGL's business. There are also contractual forces within the gasoline trade regarding suppliers of fuel. How has that impacted us? It has made us sharpen knives and just prepare better and prepare more. As a team, we try to control or we try to work with the factors or the variables we can control, contractionary pressures of margins and/or consolidation, we have no control over that. So what we try to do is whatever we have control over, we try to do that better. So we plan more. We try to introduce technology more. We try to be more creative. So it impacts us, but we look at everything as an opportunity. And we try to maximize each and every opportunity that we have. And we don't really -- to be honest, we don't really focus too much on stuff we can't control because it's just not within our control.

Thank you so much for that. I do appreciate you sharing. So as we come to a close, I want to thank you once again, Jeremy, for coming on the platform and sharing the report of FESCO for Q3 2023. I want to thank our audience for tuning in and for participating through their questions. At this point, I'd like to hand over to you, Jeremy, for your closing statements for this earnings call.

Again, I just want to thank you again, the team Learn Grow Invest for giving us this opportunity and this platform. I want to thank again all our stakeholders from our customers. Oh my thank you, customers. You have really showed up and showed out for the brand. You've made FESCO and FESGAS a great brand. We're really, really proud of our team, proud of our directors, our management, our line staff, our pump attendants, janitors, supervisors, managers, middle managers. We're just really proud of the team. We've grown from 7 employees to about 130 now with growth expected to be about 200 plus by the time we end not this financial year, but the next. We're really, really -- and that just shows you the growth, to be honest. And you can't -- as I said, we can't finance that growth with debt. Luckily and thankfully for you and thankfully to you and the public that we've been able to do it through profit. So you don't have to go out there asking for additional capital at this point in time or borrowing. We're able to generate resources through profits to be able to expand that business and that business is expanding greatly. So again, we just want to thank everybody. We want to be an innovative brand. We have come out with a lot of innovation in the short time that we've existed. We're always trying to give Jamaican people better. We do believe and we are proudly Jamaican company, and we want to develop areas, develop communities. We just want to do stuff that Jamaicans feel proud of. And so with all the projects that we do, we try to do it excellently. We try to give you value. We try to give you destinations that you can feel proud of that you take your family to, and you can come during the night and feel safe, 4:00 AM, 5:00 AM in the morning, you feel safe coming to our locations. So what I really want to say is I just want to thank all our stakeholders for continuing to support our company, and we'll do our best to live up to what we have done so far and continue to do so in the future. We really hope that you continue to support our service stations and our FESGAS cooking gas. And we hope to do you proud with FESCO Oval and hope to see you all there next year, July when we open. But we really think we'll be coming with something really special and something that the whole Water [indiscernible], Spanish Town Road, the whole Jamaica as a nation can be proud of.