Sri Lanka Hayleys June net up 20-pct

Aug 06, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Hayleys conglomerate's June 2010 quarter net profit rose 20 percent to 151 million rupees from a year ago, a stock exchange filing said.

Group sales rose 58 percent to 11.7 billion rupees. Basic earnings per share rose to 2.01 rupees from 1.67 rupees the previous year.

A company statement said the performance in the first quarter, which is usually its slowest, was mainly owing to improved profits from plantations, purification, agriculture and transportation.

"The interim results forecasts a positive outlook for the group for the rest of the year," chairman and chief executive Mohan Pandithage said.

"The group is optimistic of its investments in the leisure and aviation sector which has been identified as a growth area and has now been set up as a separate business sector within the group for better focus."

A refurbishment program is currently being finalized for Ceylon Continental, a city hotel owned by Hotel Services (Ceylon) of which the group holds controlling interest, Pandithage said.

Sri Lanka's 30-year ethnic war ended in May 2009, resulting in an immediate upturn in tourist arrivals and higher economic growth which is forecast at seven percent this year.

Pandithage said the group's plantation business which suffered an operational loss of 36.6 million rupees in the corresponding quarter of the previous year made an operational profit of 234.1 million in the June 2010 quarter.

The plantations business was "boosted mainly by a surge in rubber prices and higher crop volumes in tea," he said.

Purification products made by its Haycarb subsidiary contributed 204 million rupees to the group’s pre-tax profit with a turnover of 1.4 billion rupees.

Hayleys agriculture business, excluding plantations, made an operational profit of 144.6 million rupees, up eight percent from a year ago, with gains of 24 percent from its agri inputs business.

Pandithage said a "significant 179 percent growth" was made by the Hayleys transportation sector with an operational profit of 103.3 million rupees, up from 37 million a year ago.

"In addition, noteworthy contributions to turnover came from hand protection (the Dipped products subsidiary) with 2.5 billion, agriculture with 1.7 billion (excluding plantations), and textiles with 1.6 billion rupees," Pandithage said.

source - www.lbo.lk