Lanka Tiles December quarter net up 173-pct

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lankan floor tile maker Lanka Tiles said December 2015 quarter net profit shot up 173 percent to 533 million rupees from a year ago as it continued to benefit from the ongoing construction boom.

Sales rose 11 percent to almost two billion rupees with exports down but domestic sales up by almost 12 percent, interim results filed with the stock exchange showed.

Lanka Tiles had record sales in December 2015 enabling it to clear stocks, its Managing Director Mahendra Jayasekera said.

The firm’s floor tile plants are running at full capacity, he told EconomyNext.com, with the group diverting more of its production to the local market.

The interim accounts show the company, now part of the Royal Ceramics group, kept costs about the same but tax costs were sharply lower in the December 2015 quarter compared with the year before.

Quarterly earnings per share were 10.6 rupees. In the nine months to 31 December 2015, EPS rose to 18.94 rupees from 10.06 rupees the year before.

Net profit rose 88 percent to just over a billion rupees while sales rose six percent to 4.6 billion rupees in the nine month period from the year before.

Sri Lanka Access Engineering Dec quarter net flat

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Access Engineering said December 2015 quarter net profit rose 2.6 percent to 545 million rupees from a year ago with modest growth in core construction earnings outpaced by that from a vehicle importing subsidiary.

Sales rose 2.8 percent to 4.2 billion rupees in the quarter, interim results filed with the stock exchange showed.

December quarter profit from its Sathosa Motors unit rose sharply to 250 million rupees from 174 million rupees while other income fell by almost half.

Earnings per share for the quarter were 54 cents. In the nine months to 31 December 2015 EPS rose to 1.83 rupees from 1.71 rupees.

In the nine month period, net profit rose 6.8 percent to 1.8 billion rupees while sales rose 10.6 percent to 13 billion rupees from the year before.

Access Engineering’s Horizon Holdings Venture and Horizon Knowledge City Limited units made losses.

Sri Lanka Treasuries yields up, Rs28bn sold

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's 12-month Treasuries yield rose 08 basis points to 7.95 percent at Wednesday's auction, the state debt office said, with data indicating that a successful auction may have been held.

The 6-month yield rose 17 basis points to 7.57 percent. Three month bills were not offered.

The debt office sold 28.04 billion rupees of bills made up of23.5 billion rupees in 6-month bills and 4.5 billion rupees of 12-month bills.

There is an estimated 28 billion rupees of maturing bills this week, indicating that this week's auction may have been successful after a long series of failures, where large volumes of money was printed week after week injecting liquidity to the banking system.

However it is not known whether the central bank purchased bill over and above maturing bills. Data of central bank purchases at auctions are no longer made to the public at the close of the auction.

In the mid-1990s, auctions of Treasury bills and bonds were started to stop central bank credit (printing money) and end financial repression and currency collapse.

Central bank credit used to finance the budget deficit and keep interest rates down was identified as the core problem with Sri Lanka's economy as far back as 1966 in a report by Indian economist B R Shenoy.

Sri Lanka's Central Finance net up 19-pct

ECONMYNEXT - Profits at Sri Lanka's Central Finance Plc, a non-bank lender rose 18.9 percent from a year earlier to 1.17 billion rupees in the December 2016 quarter helped by lower loan loss provisions, interim accounts showed.

The group reported earnings of 10.95 rupees per share. In the nine months to December it reported earnings of 30.79 rupees per share on total profits of 3.2 billion rupees which grew 17 percent.

In the December quarter interest income grew 4.3 percent to 3.2 billion rupees, interest expenses fell 5.4 percent to 952 million rupees and net interest income rose 9 percent to 2.2 billion rupees.

Loan loss provisions fell 61 percent to 219 million rupees from a year earlier.

Leases and hire purchases grew from 50.1 billion to 56.2 billion rupees over the past nine months.

Group gross assets grew from 71 billion rupees to 77 billion and net assets to 27.5 billion rupees from 25.1 billion.

Distilleries Company posts Rs. 1.78 bn profit in Q3,2015

Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka (DCSL) posted Rs. 1.78 billion profits for third quarter of 2015.This is an increase of 10.7% as against same corresponding period last year. Revenue from spirits increased to Rs 18.9 billion which saw a 37% increase.

During the period under review beverages brought Rs 6.1 billion in profit before tax (PBT).

The Financial services are too made a made profits of Rs. 224 million which saw an increase of Rs.10 million as against the same period last year. However the company saw a dip from the plantation sector where it has a Rs 310 million loss.

DCSL Group lead by its flagship Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka manages diversified blue chip portfolios.

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Litro Gas posts Rs. 6 bn profits in 2015

Litro Gas has posted a record year with gross profits of over Rs.6 billion with significant increases in volumes (22pct) and market growth (acquiring a total 485,548 new connections).

The market leader has grown its reach, to make LPG available in all areas of the island through a network of over 5,000 dealers.

"It is of utmost importance that Litro Gas be available in all rural areas,"Chairman Shalila Moonesinghe said.

"In doing so Litro Gas has maintained the highest safety standards ensuring that quality products are delivered to all our valued customers."

Litro Gas Lanka Managing Director Muditha Peiris said Litro Gas managed to grow its market by creating over 485,000 new connections. "This has led us to a record year in 2015 with gross profits of over Rs.6 billion." Highest ever volumes were also seen during 2015 with the company recording volumes of over 209,000 metric tons. This amounts to another record in terms of volume growth of over 22pct.

"We continue to invest in our people to ensure that safety is maintained throughout our value chain" . "We have upgraded our cylinder refurbishment facilities in order to deliver a better product." Peiris mentioned referring to the company's new investments in cylinder maintenance and re-painting. "With these improvements Litro Gas will improve its quality and standards".

Litro Gas continues to focus on its staff ensuring there is continuous development and growth within the organization. 2015 has seen many staff being promoted within the organization recognizing their exceptional skills.
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Sri Lanka targets 4.2 mn arrivals by 2020

Tourism Hotel Investment and Investment Conference 2016 kiked started on February 10, 2016 and would continue till February 11 at the Galle Face hotel. Among the many aspects brought out in the conference, it was impressed upon that Sri Lanka with all it has to offer should try to bring in more brands into the country. Managing Director India and regional VP south Asia, Star wood Hotels and resorts stated that bringing in more branded hotels into the country will automatically increase the desirability of the country and create a suitable environment to reach an upper-end market.

It was mentioned in the presentations carried out throughout the conference that Sri Lanka hopes to reach a target 4.2 million tourist arrivals into the country by the year 2020 which would bring in around 200 new hotels and an addition of 11,000 rooms to the hotel industry. Minister of Tourism Development, John Amarathunga said that by the year 2020 the tourism sector will be employ over 640, 000. While the total contribution of travel tourism to the country's GDP is forecasted to elevate itself by 6.1% to 10.5%of GDP by the year 2026.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Chairman MRICS, Manav Thadani said that although Sri Lanka is known as a leisure destination and around 86% of the tourists arriving at the country are leisure bound, it is Business travel which is around 13 % that shows a growing trend.

The conference represents a mix of fourteen countries out of the total of 170 participants.

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