New strategies, nationwide ICT development boost PC House earnings

PC House PLC, Sri Lanka’s leading ICT and solutions provider reported a 25% increase in turnover to Rs. 1,956 million, in the first half of 2011/12 financial year in comparison to the Rs. 1,566 million yielded for the correspondence period last financial year.

Net earnings of Rs. 105 million in the first six months of the current financial year reported an increase of 16 per cent, compared to the Rs. 90 million of the previous year.

The company said this growth is indicative of the new strategies implemented by the Group during the current year.

The Group’s shareholder’s fund, as at 30 September 2011 was Rs. 1.5 billion which is an increase of 10% from last year’s figure. The net asset per share of the Group is 6.40.

During the last two quarters, the Group opened five new branches across the island and upgraded the Kandy branch to a PCH 9 to 9 store.

This showroom brings a new era of convenience in IT retail to residents of the hill capital boasting over 3000 world renowned brands, all under one roof. These branches added to the Group’s turnover and brought the total number of PCH Branches, island-wide, to 38.

The Group’s BOI approved subsidiary Procifinity Ltd, set up for the purpose of catering to the outsourcing requirements of local and overseas-based enterprises also added to the Group turnover.

Apart from their BPO service offerings like their Digitisation, and Contact Centre solutions, the company now offer KPO solutions, from finance and accounting to marketing services.

“We worked diligently to improve sales and profitability in the past year in a way that generated sustained customer preference and shareholder value. We are also building momentum for 2012 behind our longer-term commitment to deliver even better customer experiences,” PCH Chairman S.H.M. Rishan said.

“Our results clearly demonstrate the success of both our cost containment efforts and strategic realignment,” added Rishan.

“We continue to grow our core business revenue, which has resulted in us exceeding internal expectations and our significant progress toward attaining our operating margin goals.”

Meanwhile, at company level PC House PLC has increased its turnover by 33 per cent to Rs. 1,900 million in the first six months of the current financial year.

The net profit of PC House PLC has increased by 47 per cent to Rs. 115 million in the first six month of current financial year compared to the same period of last year which amounted to Rs. 79 million.

Earnings per Share of PCH have increased by 21.43 per cent to 0.51 cents compared to the last year figure of 0.42 cents per share.

This aggressive performance is a result of the numerous projects won in the private and public sectors for the supply of ICT products throughout the island due to the demand created in line with the technological development taking place.

PCH also entered the competitive mobile market space with partnering one of India’s fastest growing mobile phone brands, Karbonn.

Given its island-wide reach via an unmatched distribution network, the Karbonn phone has penetrated the market capturing sizeable market share of the consumer market.

PCH is the new corporate brand identity for PC House PLC which was recently listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

The new brand identity reflects the change from a family owned business to a public company with a vision to be the benchmark for ICT in Sri Lanka.

PCH was recognised as the 50th most valuable brand in Sri Lanka for 2011, in the Brand Finance with an honorable A+ brand rating. PCH offers a total ICT product and service portfolio via 38 outlets of its island-wide distribution network.

PC House was incorporated as a limited liability company in the year 2000, after having commenced business in 1997 and became PCH PLC. Its Board of Directors consists of S.H.M. Rishan, Mangala Boyagoda, Sarath Wikramanayake, Modarage Thilakasiri, Shanti Kumar Nadarajah, Kuvera de Zoysa and Sharmila Rishan.