Laugfs lights up Rs. 1.2 b Group pre-tax profit in FY11

Laugfs Gas PLC and its subsidiaries yesterday announced that the Group surpassed Rs. 1.2 billion profits before tax for the financial year ended 31 March 2011, reflecting a 107% increase.

The Group, according to the un audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2011, released to the Colombo Stock Exchange, had posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 1 billion, which is 90% over the corresponding period last year.

During the year under review, the company’s revenue also increased by 30% from Rs5.6 billion to RS.7.3 indicating robust performance.

Laugfs Gas Plc and its subsidiaries also increased the value of its assets base by 48% from Rs. 6.2 billion last year to Rs. 9.2 billion as at the end of 31 March 2011. The net assets value for the year increased from Rs. 2.8 billion to Rs. 6.3 billion. The group’s current assets are 1.6 times over its current liabilities and it reflects very healthy and strong liquidity and working capital position.

Laugfs Gas Plc Chairman W.K.H. Wegapitiya commenting on the outstanding performance of the company and the group, indicated, although the results are very impressive the full potential of the company is yet to be exploited. He added that they are looking forward to achieve very much better results in the immediate future since the fundamentals have put in place internally which should be complemented with conducive business environment created. However he noted that surpassing over rupees one billion profits earned was an important land mark for a comparatively young business enterprise but having had to face numerous obstacles on its way and stiff competition from its formidable contenders in business.

Laugfs Gas PLC is on a vigorous growth path and believes that it has captured the major share of the expanding market of LP Gas in this country and its distribution net work now covers the entire island including that of north and east, which appears to be a very promising market segment with the dawn of peace and as economic activity gathers momentum in the two provinces.

It has made certain groundbreaking concentric diversification of business by venturing into metal cutting gas industry few months back, in collaboration with Fortune 500, Government of India-owned Bharat Petroleum Ltd. This initiative is expected to make a revolutionary change in the metal cutting industry in the country with its outstanding quality of output and its extraordinary features of safety assurance.

As far as the performance of the group during the final quarter of the period under review indicated strong performance where its revenue increased by 27% to Rs. 1.98 billion from Rs. 1.56 billion. The profits after tax for the final quarter for the group stood at Rs. 251.48 million which is an increase by 74% from Rs. 144.78 million for the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

The overall group performance was strengthened through the results shown by its important subsidiary, Laugfs Eco Sri Ltd. engaged in the business of vehicle emission testing on behalf of the department of the motor traffic. The other two subsidiaries of the group are Laugfs Leisure Ltd. and Laugfs Property Developers Ltd. These two subsidiaries are presently engage with their plans to construct beach resort in Chilaw and of property development complex at Maya Avenue Colombo, respectively.

Once these two projects come in to business operation in the future, the group shall post much more formidable results in the ensuing periods, the company said.