Tuesday 8 November 2016

Sri Lanka’s Piramal Glass makes Rs37mn loss in Sept quarter

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Piramal Glass Ceylon reported a net loss of Rs37 million in the September 2016 quarter compared with a net profit of Rs140 million a year ago as it was affected by a production stoppage to upgrade its furnace.

Sales fell marginally to Rs1.4 billion from Rs1.5 billion during the period, according to interim accounts filed with the stock exchange.

The company, a unit of India’s Piramal Glass Ltd., reported a loss per share of 04 cents in the quarter against earnings of 15 cents a year ago.

For the six months ending September 2016, the firm’s net profit fell to Rs73 million from Rs287 million a year ago.

A statement said the company had to supply the market while its factory was non-operational for a period of 2 months for the upgrade and capacity enhancement.

“During this period the market was supplied with bottles from the limited stock company had built and balance through trading,” it said. “Almost 50% of the sale was sourced from imports. Bottles were mainly imported from the parent company, Piramal Glass, India.

“Trading of bottles is not at all a profitable venture due to cost differential of bottles in India and other parts of the world and the huge transportation cost,” the company said.

But it said the management made a conscious decision to import “even at break-even price” to ensure customers of continuous deliveries, ensuring uninterrupted supplies.

“Nevertheless this decision has impacted the profitability margins during the 1st half of the year as against the previous year,” the company said.

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