Ann: Brierty Half Year Results, page-7

Jamwolf

If I knew what was in the line item, I would have a crack at giving it an apt description.

When trying to compare the expense to similar expenses for NWH and MLD, it was difficult to know if I was comparing like with like, because each used different terminology, and probably included different expenses. MLD has a line item, “Other expenses from ordinary activities”, and NWH has “Corporate costs”.

BYL's “Gross margin on services and land sales” is $12.012m, so its $6.644m Administration expense is 53.3% of that, which is high for what in essence is an earthmoving company that should have a lightly-staffed head office in an industrial area. If BYL's “Administration expense” could be pared to 3% of revenue, the NPAT would be significantly improved.

MLD's H1 2015 “Other expenses from ordinary activities” is $8.651m, which is 2.7% of its $319.687m Revenue, and MLD's $49.407m profit before tax is 15.455% of Revenue. In contrast, BYL's $6.644m Administration expense is 4.74% of its $135.779m Revenue, and its $4.405m profit before tax is 3.244% of Revenue.

I do not have H1 metrics for NWH, but its FY2014 Revenue was $1,134.5m, and its so-called Corporate costs were $8.9m, which is .78% of Revenue.