Abans records outstanding 9 months consolidated PAT of Rs. 1.5 b

Abans Group of Companies Chairperson and Founder Aban Pestonjee

Abans Group Managing Director Behman Pestonjee (Tito)

The recently-ended year posed a series of challenges in the financial market and business sphere, as the COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to a plethora of risks, drawbacks and losses in terms of profit, capital and company sustainability. 

However, Abans Group emerged victorious in a highly volatile business atmosphere after employing carefully-structured strategies, controlled decisions, and containing trading and monetary conditions with the goal of functioning according to the new normal. 

A sharp increase of 187% was depicted in the Group Profit After Tax to end at Rs. 1.5 billion for the nine-month-period ending December 2020 (compared to last year’s Rs. 520 million); while a 175% year-on-year growth was noted in the Profit-After-Tax of Abans PLC (the company) to end at Rs. 1.45 billion, compared to the previous year’s Rs. 527.1 million.

Abans Group scored a record top performance for the third quarter (Q3) for the Financial Year 2020/21 with a Profit After Tax of Rs. 793 million, seeing a significant 144% increase compared to the year before. The company reported a PAT of Rs. 750.6 million for Q3, a 105% increase from last year, which proves the resilience of the company to adapt to any change in market conditions.     

“Foresight, smart strategy and strong implementation has enabled Abans to rise to leadership positions in many of the sectors they operate in. However, it was necessary to recalibrate strategy to ensure they were geared for the new normal, for an era driven by artificial intelligence and big data, which would provide significant competitive advantage to those who were fast enough to embrace it. Following these strategies have proven to be quite effective, as seen by the remarkable results displayed by the Financials up to December 2020,” stated Abans Group of Companies Chairperson and Founder Aban Pestonjee.

Despite the severe repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on several businesses, revenue for Q3 reached a growth of 40%, at both Group and Company level, while Cumulative Revenue for nine months depicted a year-on-year growth of 9%, which is a noteworthy achievement during the past period. The Group Gross Profit stood at Rs. 7.4 billion and Rs. 3 billion for nine months and three months (Q3) respectively.

“Abans has continued to focus on diversification that fuels growth and aids in the company’s resilience. Diversification has enabled the business to continue the growth trajectory amidst volatile market conditions. The company has strategically looked to build better synergies across their various segments in order to give superior solutions to their valued customers, and build on the overall competitive advantage. Thus, the Group, as a whole, is geared to perform even better in the coming year, with the implementation of new policies and evolving methodologies,” said Abans Group Managing Director Behman Pestonjee (Tito). 

Driven by strategic cost reduction policies and working capital management strategies carried out in the past nine months, the Group’s (as well as the company’s) Admin and Selling Expenses noted a decrease to Rs. 4.9 billion, compared to Rs. 5.6 billion from the previous year. 

Furthermore, Net Finance Cost for the nine-month-period was reduced to Rs. 619 million from Rs. 921 million; whereas for the third quarter, the same was reduced to Rs. 119 million compared to Rs. 286 million last year. This was reduced mainly due to the low interest rate environment and the company’s strategic working capital management.  

Executive Director – Finance Chandrika Perera commented, “It is noteworthy that the Group has recorded a significant increase in EBITDA despite the impact of adverse macro-economic conditions. The Group’s financial and business strength and stability has placed Abans at a prominent position of being able to pursue greater heights and achievements in the years to come.”