Declares Rs 1 dividend per share:
Aitken Spence PLC’s net profit attributable to shareholders rose by 23 percent to Rs 2.5 billion, from Rs 2.1 billion last year, revealed the leading diversified conglomerates results for the financial year ended March 31, 2011 released to the Colombo Stock Exchange yesterday.
Net profit before tax increased by 13.8 percent from Rs 3.4 billion to Rs 3.8 billion recorded last year.
Net revenue for the year rose 4 percent to Rs 24.73 billion, from Rs 23.80 billion a year ago, largely driven by growth in the tourism, cargo logistics and manufacturing sectors.
The company reported an impressive growth in earnings per share of 23 percent to Rs 6.25, up from Rs 5.07 during the previous year.
Aitken Spence announced an outstanding dividend per share of Rs 1, which is a rise of 50 percent from Rs 0.67 last year.
The company’s share price showed a growth of 77.2 percent compared to the previous year to close the year at Rs 162.30.
Aitken Spence Chairman D H S Jayawardena said, “I welcome the spirited and upbeat sentiment in the economy and believe that the next few years will bring the transformation of Sri Lanka to a truly competitive emerging economy. For Aitken Spence, our advantage will be on our home ground and this will be reflected in our interests within Sri Lankan economy. I can say with certainly that we will invest to expand our existing positions of strength while also aggressively exploring fresh opportunities for diversification in to growth sectors of the economy.
Deputy Chairman and Managing Director J M S Brito stated, “There is a positive sentiment and increased investor confidence in the Sri Lankan economy, which was strengthened by the improvements witnessed in the global economy. These factors created the right environment for many of the sectors to perform exceptionally well in 2010 and 11, having fully emerged from the shadow of a prolonged war.”
He added, “As a mainstay of the Sri Lankan economy, Aitken Spence will seek further growth opportunities in the local economy, particularly in the tourism, logistics, agriculture and IT sectors, while consolidating our operations overseas during the coming year. The Group’s strategy of diversification with our core business will continue, as this has paid rich dividends over the years,” he said.
Having fully refurbished properties, the Group was able to take advantage of the tourism boom, with its three premier Heritance properties in Sri Lanka recording an outstanding performance. The company states that its resort portfolio will be expanded in the short-term through several new expansions; Heritance Ayurveda Mahagedara will be opened next month, while construction has begun on the Six Senses property in Ahungalla, targeted to launch in 2013. The Golden Sun Resort Kalutara is now closed for refurbishment until December 2011 and this development will see the resort being uplifted to a four-star property.
Construction of an additional 100 rooms will commence in mid 2011 to increase the total room inventory of this property to 200.
source - www.dailynews.lk
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