Commercial space owners, RIL Property PLC will complete its READYWEAR building within a year to mirror the success of its PARKLAND commercial building, officials say.
“READYWEAR building has 59,000 square feet of rentable space and we’re getting a lot of interest from prestigious local and foreign corporates,” Hiroshini Fernando CEO RIL told the Business Times.
RIL Property PLC saw its group profit after tax for the last quarter increasing by 37 per cent to Rs. 21.2 million. PARKLAND reached 100 per cent occupancy during the last quarter.
Ms. Fernando noted that the ‘much discussed’ property bubble has more to do with apartments and not rented commercial space.
The company raised Rs. 960 million through an invitation to the general public to purchase 120 million new Ordinary Voting Shares at a share issue price of Rs. 8 in April. The company listed on the Main Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange on May 4, 2017.
Its IPO for 120 million shares was oversubscribed by 1.3 times but the share is currently trading below IPO price at a record low, having hit a high of Rs. 9 on its debut.
Further the expansion of the company’s BreadTalk operations through Foodbuzz continued with the completion of the expansion of the Central kitchen located at Lipton Circus.
The two new outlets in Maharagama and Mt. Lavinia reached full operation during the quarter, Ms. Fernando said noting that through these expansions the Foodbuzz is seeing changes and will turn around during the second quarter. “We need to work a little bit more on Foodbuzz,” Mrs. Fernando noted.
The company’s IPO saw some new shareholders including Commercial Bank, Melstacorp PLC, CDIC, Phoenix Ventures and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC).
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has 3.683 per cent in RIL with Melstacorp Plc owing 3.072 per cent. Phoenix Ventures Private Limited has 2 per cent and SLIC has 1.667 per cent.
The Yaseen family owns 74 per cent in RIL. Ms. Fernando added that BreadTalk next branch will be at Wattala, to be opened in the third quarter of the current financial year.
(Duruthu)
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Primary asset stands there, share buy back in restructure plan
York Arcade Holdings PLC, a member of the Colombo Fort Land and Buildings Group, does not intend renewing the lease on a prime Fort site at York Arcade it leased from its parent for 33 years to develop a commercial building at Nos. 27 and 8 Leyden Bastian Road, the company’s chairman, Mr. A. Rajaratnam, has told shareholders in the company’s annual report.
"Your company’s primary asset – the building constructed at 27 and 8 Leyden Bastian Road, is on a land leased from the Colombo Fort Land and Buildings PLC. The leasehold tenure is coming to an end and the board of York Arcade Holdings PLC has decided that it is not economically feasible for the company to renew the lease," he said.
"The directors of the company will evaluate alternative business opportunities for the company to continue its operation."
The lease ended on August 31, 2017. The report says that subsequent to its expiration, York Arcade Holdings will not generate rent income which is its primary income and hence not incur direct costs.
Under terms of the lease, the land owner (Colombo Fort Land and Buildings) is required to pay York Arcade Holdings 66% of the cost of construction of the building which stands on the property. The cost of construction was Rs. 131.6 million and Rs. 86.86 million is recoverable by York Arcade.
A valuation report by a Chartered Valuation Surveyor has placed the value of the building as at March 31, 2016 as Rs. 104.1 million.
Rajaratnam said that following the decision not to renew the land lease, the directors, having analyzed the existing capital structure of York Arcade Holdings, had decided to restructure the capital "in order to maximize returns to shareholders."
The board had recommended that the restructuring be carried out by way of the repurchase of 4.5 million ordinary shares of the company at a price of Rs. 17 per share which would be followed by the consolidation of the remaining shares subject to shareholder and regulatory approval
The year ended March 31, 2017, ended with York Arcade Holdings increasing revenue by 30% to Rs. 80.2 million and profit after tax by 111% to Rs. 33.1 million – a 10-year high according to data published in the annual report. The written down value of it investment property stood at Rs. 91.6 million, down 11% from a year earlier.
According to its balance sheet, the company had a stated capital of Rs. 14.4 million, retained earnings of Rs. 178.8 million and total assets of Rs. 260.5 million in its books as at March 31, 2017. Total liabilities were Rs. 53.1 million.
The York Arcade share traded between Rs. 12.30 and Rs. 17.20 during the year under review closing at Rs. 12.50. This compared to a trading range of Rs. 9.90 to Rs. 17.50 closing at Rs. 13 the previous year.
The Colombo Fort Land and Buildings Company PLC with 49.27% is the top shareholder of the company with other group companies too being on the Top 20 list.
The directors of the company are: Messrs. S. Rajaratnam (chairman) (alternate Mr. SDR Arudpragasam), J. Theyagamurti, S. Shanmugalingam, AM de S. Jayaratne, SNP Palihena, GDV Perera and S. Rajaratnam.
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Four Malaysian and Indonesian plantations sold, refining in India stopped
Carson Cumberbatch PLC, regarded as one of the country’s most successful and widely respected conglomerates quoted on the Colombo Stock Exchange with a presence in the South East Asian region has closed the financial year ended March 31, 2017, without being able to pay its shareholders any dividend.
The group which entered the plantation sector with rubber over 100 years ago has interests in many diverse sectors including oil palm plantations in Indonesia, oils and fats (in Malaysia and India), beverages, portfolio and asset management, real estate and leisure.
According to the recently released annual report, the Carsons Group saw revenue dip 16% to Rs. 64.5 billion while the profit attributable to shareholders grew 57% to Rs. 1.29 billion. But there was a loss after tax of Rs. 1.46 billion from continuing operations, down 174% from a profit of Rs. 1.99 billion a year earlier.
The bottom line included a gain of Rs. 5.2 billion from the disposal of certain Malaysian and Indonesian plantations belonging to the group.
Net assets per ordinary share had grown a marginal 1% to Rs. 159.01 while the market value of the share had declined 40% to Rs. 163 from Rs. 270 the previous year.
The group carried net assets of Rs. 59.45 billion, up 2% from Rs. 58.29 billion a year earlier in its books.
‘There have been challenges along the way, but the company looks to the future with confidence, trusting that the excellence of its people and the strategic strength of its plans will serve to overcome challenges and deliver exceptional results and returns to its many stakeholders," the report said.
It says "we are not short term opportunists; we focus on strategic objectives and we build compliant businesses." Their vision is to become a regional holding company and given the opportunities existing within the rapidly developing economies of the region, they believe that their horizons in all their core businesses should extend to South and South East Asia with Sri Lanka remaining their priority.
With 69,000 hectares of oil palm planted in Indonesia and a total land bank of 139,000 hectares, palm oil is a core business of the group. It entered Indonesia in 1996 by setting up a company, PT Agro Indomas in Central Kalimantan with a land bank of 12,000 hectares. Their second plantation in Indonesia, PT Agro Bukit, commenced development in 2005 and since then they’ve expanded to 69,000 hectares.
Carson’s brewing business took a blow during the year under review with their state-of-the art brewery in the Biyagama Investment Promotion Zone getting inundated by floods, disrupting production and causing major damage. Additionally, the industry was hit by sharply increased taxes pricing beer out of the reach of many consumers.
Four of the Malaysian oil palm plantations and one in Indonesia had been disposed during the year under review and palm oil refining operation in India was scaled down and subsequently ceased altogether. They are now in the process of disposing the assets of the business. The refining business had lost Rs. 1.1 billion in the year under review against the previous year’s loss of Rs. 0.83 billion. The Indian operation lost Rs. 0.79 billion until its cessation.
Carson’s had a stated capital of Rs. 1.1 billion, a group capital reserve of Rs. 3.2 billion and revenue reserves of Rs. 26.9 billion in its books as at March 31, 2017. Total assets stood at Rs. 156.4 billion and total liabilities at 97 billion.
Bukit Darah PLC with 45.68% is the top shareholder of Carson’s, followed by Tower Investments (10.66%) and Fulcrum (Pvt) Ltd. (9.79%). Other corporate shareholders follow with the EPF with 2.85% standing at No. 6. The Selvanathan family of Messrs. Mano and Hari Selvanathan are the beneficial controlling interest.
The directors of the company are Messrs. Tilak de Zoysa (chairman), H. Selvanathan, M. Selvanathan, I Paulraj, DCR Gunawardena, SK Shah, PCP Tissera, VP Malalasekera, Faiz Mohideen, R. Theagarajah, and Ravi Dias.
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