Aitken Spence PLC remained resilient during a difficult period through its diversity of investments in eight countries, thereby recording favourable results for the nine months ended December 2019, a media release from the company stated.
Group revenue grew by 3.3% to Rs. 43.8 billion. The Group’s EBITDA remained stable at Rs. 6.8 billion.
Close to 57% of the Group’s PBT of Rs. 2.4 billion was generated through its investments overseas.
The Group recorded a profit of Rs. 3.7 billion compared to Rs. 4.6 billion recorded the previous year for corresponding period. This was primarily due to the significant foreign exchange gains recorded in the previous year due to the 17.4% depreciation of the Sri Lankan Rupee as against a 3.1% depreciation during the current year. Profit from operations of the Group stood at Rs.1.8 billion for the third quarter under review.
The Maritime and Freight Logistics sector performed exceptionally well recording a 20.6% growth in profits over the previous year. The Integrated Logistics and Maritime segments continued their exceptional performance recording significant improvement in profits. However, the Group’s freight segment did not come up to expectations mainly due to intense competition and lower yields.
The Group’s Destination Management segment maintained its market share of tourist arrivals to the country while upholding its position as the market leader, in this segment.
The Strategic Investments sector contributed Rs. 815 million towards Group PBT. The Group’s investment in printing in Fiji, is yet to bear fruition with considerable cost still being incurred on restructuring and revamping operations. The lower prices recorded for tea resulted in the decline of the performance of the plantation segment compared to the previous year though remaining profitable.
The Services sector contributed 11.1% of the Group’s PBT and recorded a 5.0% growth in Profit Before Tax over the previous year.
The Group’s first Heritance Property in the Maldives; Heritance Aarah commenced commercial operations on October 1, 2019.
There was steady progress in the construction of the waste to energy power plant which is projected for completion shortly. Proving Aitken Spence’s commitment to the sustainable development of Sri Lanka, this pioneering venture will help solve the long outstanding waste disposal issue in Colombo city.
An associate company of Aitken Spence PLC, Elpitiya Plantations PLC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sim Leisure Group Ltd, a theme park developer and operator based in Penang, Malaysia, to set up a world-class Escape theme park in the Galle region.