Piramal Glass Board proposes 23% dividend after completing successful year

Piramal Glass Ceylon Plc (PGC) closed yet another successful financial year with growth in both turnover and profitability.

In the backdrop of the successful completion of its operations during the financial year F15, the Board of Directors has proposed a 23% dividend keeping its consistent policy of a 50% dividend pay-out ratio.

The F15 Q4 saw a marked improvement against that of the same quarter in F14. Sales grew by 21% from Rs. 1,356 million to Rs. 1,642 million while domestic sales for the quarter saw an increase of 25% with exports rising by 8%. The Gross Profit for the quarter was Rs. 409 million and the PAT achievement was Rs. 208 million as opposed to Rs. 68 million during the same period of the previous year. 

With this exceptional fourth quarter performance due to the Sinhala-Tamil New Year, the company closed a successful year with an overall turnover of Rs. 5,792 million, depicting a growth of 11% against the preceding year’s turnover of Rs. 5,220 million. 

The domestic market saw a marked improvement during the year under review. It crossed an annual sale of Rs. 4 billion with a growth of 17%, most of which came from the Food and Beverage segment. 

The export market too thrived with the company entering into several new markets, namely the US, the Philippines, Israel, Nepal and Kenya. Presently, they exist in small quantities which are anticipated to grow in volume in the future. 

The company was also able to develop several new products in the international market despite having to curtail export volumes to give preference to its commitment to seasonal domestic demand.

The Operating Profit for the year was Rs. 635 million as compared to the previous year’s Rs. 390 million (excluding profit from land sale).  Also the Profit before Tax was Rs. 508 million as against the previous year’s figure of Rs. 289 million. 

Operational achievements were partly marred by the furnace oil rate which still has not been rectified as per international rates. This will create much hardship for the company in the long-run as it does not create a level playing field for PGC with its international competitors. It is hopeful that the authorities will look into the issue and take fair action to rectify the situation as early as possible.

At the recently-concluded Board meeting, Samit Datta was appointed a Director to fill the vacancy created through the resignation of Sandeep Umesh Arora. 

Datta is a mechanical engineer who joined Piramal in 2005 and has worked in various avenues from strategic planning to global supply chain. He is currently President Corporate Supply Chain and IT at Piramal Glass Ltd. He possesses vast experience of over 20 years in diverse sectors such as the automobile, garment, IT and glass industries.

With this addition, the current Board of Directors of Piramal Glass Ceylon Plc consists of Vijay Shah (Chairman), Dr. Bandula Perera, Ranjith Fernando, Samit Datta and  Sanjay Tiwari (CEO and Executive Director).