Legal judgement hits Anthony Clark balancesheet

A recent legal judgement against Anthony Clark International Insurance Brokers Ltd. (TSX: ACL) has hit the company’s balancesheet hard for the half-year ending September 30, 2003.The company suffered a pre-tax loss of $218,724 for the most recent six months, versus a gain of $335,728 for the six months ending September 30, 2002. Net loss for the same period is $367,822, or $0.05 per share versus net earnings of $9,970 for the same period a year earlier.The cause is a recently announced judgement against the company for $515,000 for failure to honor a stock option agreement back in 1998. The company is currently appealing the judgement, but has assessed it against the most recent quarter’s results.Salaries and commissions also rose, up to $1.68 million for the most recent six months, from $1.5 million a year earlier.This is the results of growth in new business, which, coupled with premium increases, brought the company’s revenue up to $2.61 million for the most recent six months, versus $2.52 million a year earlier.As a result of the legal judgement the company also saw its working capital drop by $438,896 in the most recent quarter, now at $3.47 million versus $3.91 million at March 31, 2003. During the same period, shareholders’ equity dropped to $6.87 million from $7.24 million.