Aitken Spence improves performance in the second quarter

Leading conglomerate Aitken Spence PLC’s financial results, released to the Colombo Stock Exchange, revealed quarterly revenue increasing year-on-year (YoY) to Rs. 12.41 billion from Rs. 12.27 billion, while revenue for the six months was Rs. 22.98 billion. The Group also recorded an improved net assets per share value of Rs. 112.30. 

Profits-before-tax (PBT) for the six months ended 30 September was Rs. 1.45 billion while the quarterly PBT was recorded as Rs. 971 million, both recording decreases over the previous year. After discounting the exceptional gain on disposal of Hotel Hilltop in September 2017, the Group has recorded a PBT growth of 19% year on year in the second quarter and registered a significant improvement over the performance of the first quarter of the current financial year. 

Earnings per share for the quarter was reported Rs. 1.19 while Rs. 1.71 was reported for the six months. 

The tourism sector reported a decrease in profits-after-tax of Rs. 594 million YoY. This was mainly owing to the significant gain from divesting in Hotel Hill Top, which amounted to Rs. 307.6 million last year. The devaluation of the rupee had a negative impact on the translation adjustment of foreign currency loans taken by the tourism sector, which also witnessed a drop in the contribution from Meedhuparu resort in Maldives due to its investment made in the new resort Aarah. However, the revenue of the tourism sector was up 8.4% YoY to Rs. 12.06 billion from Rs. 11.12 billion. 

During the quarter, Aitken Spence-owned Turyaa Chennai won the Leading Designer Hotel – India (South) 2018 award at the South Asia Travel Awards, while Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara won the Silver Award (hotels category) for excellent contribution towards environmental conservation at the Presidential Environmental Awards conducted by Central Environmental Authority (CEA). 

There were significant improvements in the maritime & logistics and services sectors. The turnaround of cargo sector and improved performance of the ship agency operation resulted in an increase in profit-before-tax for the maritime & logistics sector. The sector revenue increased by 10.2% to Rs. 5.62 billion from Rs. 5.10 billion. The quarterly profit-after-tax of the sector increased by 24.9% to Rs. 711 million from Rs. 569 million, over the previous year. 

Capital expenditure incurred on the construction of Aarah Resort in the Maldives and the waste-to-energy power plant in the north of Colombo resulted in an increase in property plant and equipment of the Group by approximately Rs 3.5 billion. Heritance Aarah is expected to open in February in 2019. It will be the first resort outside Sri Lanka to be branded as ‘Heritance’, introducing a premium all-inclusive offering with elegantly designed villas.

The landmark waste-to-energy project is expected help solve both the waste disposal and energy supply challenges in the country at present. The project would be equipped to convert municipal solid waste to electricity, aimed at greatly relieving the Colombo City of its waste disposal burden.

Listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange since 1983 and marking its 150th year milestone in 2018, Aitken Spence is a blue-chip conglomerate with a strong regional presence in the Hotels, Travels, Maritime Services, Logistic Solutions, Plantations, Power Generation, Financial Outsourcing, Insurance, IT, Printing and Apparel sectors. Aitken Spence is the reigning winner of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability award while being the only company in Sri Lanka to be ranked as a “Best Corporate Citizen” by Sri Lanka’s leading chamber for 12 consecutive years.