Shares in Fontana Ltd the pharmacy chain, declined four per cent on Thursday after releasing record-breaking results.

Shares closed at $10.67 down $11.11 a day earlier. The company reported revenues of $7.3 billion for the fiscal year, a 15.4 per cent increase from the $6.3 billion in the previous year.

Net profit attributable to shareholders totalled $655.2 million or 8.0 per cent higher than a year earlier.

High interest rates are negatively affecting the stock market. And the release of record-breaking results was not enough to avoid a slide in market price.

The company hit a one-year high of $13.47 earlier in the year, and it's currently trading far from the $7.02, one-year low.

Fontana's results were however creditable.

Gross profit was $2.6 billion, or 16.3 per cent higher than the $2.3 billion recorded in the prior year, and gross margins moved to 35.9 per cent from 35.6 per cent.

Fontana's margins increased slightly as it continued to manage its procurement processes to reduce cost of sales. Operating expenses grew by 25.8 per cent, ending the year serving as liquidity opportunities and increasing the volumes available for trading.

Operating expenses increased by 25.8 per cent to $1.9 billion from the previous year. The company explained the rise in relation to higher staff costs, a new Ferry warehouse, and the new Portmore outlet, set to open later this year.

Overall, earnings per share was $0.52 in 2023 versus $0.49 in 2022.