Smiling, but not laughing yet…
The Board of Directors of Laugfs Gas PLC are seen here after reporting impressive results for the year ended March 31, 2011. After tax profits grew 90 percent but the company’s Chairman says it is yet to realize its potential as the post-conflict business environment can improve further.
Laugfs Gas PLC may be laughing with strong financial results for the year ended March 31, 2011 but its Chairman says the company can do much more if the business environment improved further in the post-conflict economy. Laugfs Gas PLC and its subsidiaries announced yesterday (24) that the group surpassed Rs 1.20 billion in profits before tax for the financial year ended March 31, 2011, an increase of 107 percent from a year earlier. After tax profits reached Rs. 1.0 billion, a 90 percent increase from the previous year.
"During the year under review, the company’s revenue increased 30 percent from Rs. 5.6 billion to Rs. 7.3 billion. Laugfs Gas PLC and its subsidiaries also increased the value of its assets base by 48 percent from Rs. 6.2 billion the previous year to RS. 9.2 billion as at March 31, 2011. The net assets value for the year increased from Rs. 2.8 billion to Rs. 6.3billion. The group’s current assets are 1.6 times over its current liabilities and it reflects healthy and strong liquidity and working capital positions," the company said in a statement releasing its financial report to the Colombo Stock Exchange.
Chairman Laugfs Gas PLC, W.K.H. Wegapitiya commenting on the performance of the company and the group said, "Although the results are impressive, the full potential of the company is yet to be exploited. We are looking forward to achieving much better results in the immediate future, since the fundamentals put in place internally should be complemented with an environment conducive for business growth. However surpassing rupees one billion in profits earned was an important landmark for a comparatively young business enterprise, having had to face numerous obstacles on its way and stiff competition from its formidable contenders in business."
Laugfs Gas PLC’s distribution net work now covers the entire island including that of North and East which appears to be a very promising market segment with the dawn of peace and economic activity gathers momentum in the two provinces.
It has made certain ground breaking concentric diversification of business by venturing into metal cutting gas industry earlier this year, in collaboration with a Fortune 500, government of India owned Bharat Petroleum Ltd. This initiative is expected to make a revolutionary change in the metal cutting industry in the country with its outstanding quality of output and its extra-ordinary features of safety assurance, the company said.
As far as the performance of the group during the final quarter of the period under review was concerned, revenue increased by 27 percent to Rs. 1.98 billion from Rs. 1.56 billion a year earlier. The profits after tax for the final quarter for the group stood at Rs. 251.48 million which is an increase by 74 percent from Rs. 144.78 million for the corresponding quarter in the previous year, the company said.
Its subsidiary, LAugfs Eco-Sri (Pvt) Ltd engaged in the business of vehicle emission testing on behalf of the department of the motor traffic. The other two subsidiaries of the group are Laugfs Leisure Ltd and LAugfs Property Developers (Pvt) Ltd. These two subsidiaries are presently engaged with plans to construct a beach resort in Chilaw and a property development complex at Maya Avenue Colombo, respectively. Once these two projects come in to business operation in the near future, the group shall post much more formidable results in the ensuing periods, the company said.
source - www.island.lk
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