• For the nine-month period ended July 31, 2019, The Limners and Bards (The LAB) Limited reported an increase in net profit of 17.3% to finish the period at $69.81Mn up from $59.51Mn for the corresponding period in 2018.
• Operating revenues increased by 24.3% (or $94.99Mn) which was the main contributor to the increased net profit. The growth in operating revenues can be attributed to increases in the company’s core business, production (up to $69.60Mn or 113.0%) and media (up to $30.20Mn or 15%).
• The stock has risen 202.0% since listing and closed yesterday’s trading session at $3.02. At this price the stock currently trades at a P/E of 33.33x which is above the Junior Market average of 29.30x.

(Source: LAB Financials)

• European Central Bank Executive Board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger became the latest policymaker to add her voice to those saying the time is not right to restart the bank’s quantitative-easing program.
• Yesterday Dutch Governor Klaas Knot said the outlook isn’t weak enough to resume buying bonds while Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has recently returned to type following his failure to be selected as next ECB head.
• The hawkish rhetoric ahead of the bank’s Sept. 12 meeting could be viewed as somewhat at odds with the data as today’s inflation figures showed price growth in the euro-area remains stuck at 1%, well below the ECB’s own target.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• A staff team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Alejandro Santos, visited Panama during July 17-23, 2019, on an invitation from the Panamanian authorities.
• Santos said, “while Panama remains among the most dynamic economies in Latin America, the economic recovery has been slower than anticipated. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.1% in the first quarter of 2019 (compared to 4% in the same period of last year), due to a softening in construction and services.
• More recent data pointing to a continuation of a sluggish recovery, lead the IMF to revise down its growth projection for 2019 to 5% (from 6% estimated in the February visit).
• Panama’s fundamentals remain solid, with the economy expected to recover and converge to its potential growth of 5.5% by next year, and inflation edging up to 2% over the medium-term.
• Authorities also expect to reduce the fiscal deficit by over 2% of GDP in the next two years, allowing Panama to observe the deficit limit under the fiscal responsibility law of 1.75% of GDP by 2021.

(Source: IMF)