Mixed cheer at Distilleries Company

Tuesday, 9 February 2016 00:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Revenue swells but profits dip; Plantations and Telecom suffer losses

Distilleries Company saw mixed fortunes in the first nine months of the 2015/16 financial year, with profitability lower despite revenue soaring.

In 3Q, Group revenue rose by 36% to Rs. 23.58 billion whilst profit from operations declined by 7% to Rs. 2.2 billion. Cost of sales rose by 27% to Rs. 9 billion.

Pre-tax profit was flat at Rs. 2.5 billion and after tax profit rose by 8% to Rs. 1.7 billion. Bottom line rose by 10.7% to Rs. 1.78 billion.

In the nine months ended on 31 December 2015, Group revenue rose by 33.4% to Rs. 63.4 billion but profit from operations dipped 6.6% to Rs. 6.5 billion. Cost of sales rose by 27% to Rs. 14.5 billion in the nine months. Pre-tax profit was down by 7.8% to Rs. 7.14 billion and after tax profit amounted to Rs. 4.75 billion, lower by 10.7% from first nine months of last year.

Profit attributable to equity holders of the parent was down by 6% to Rs. 5 billion.

Distilleries’Beverages business saw revenue swell from Rs. 40 billion to Rs. 56 billion but profit dipped marginally to Rs. 6.2 billion from Rs. 6.3 billion a year earlier.

Plantations saw its loss increase to Rs. 310.3 million as against a profit of Rs. 14 million with revenue down from Rs. 2.3 billion to Rs. 1.8 billion. Telecommunications too suffered higher loss of Rs. 439 million, as against a loss of Rs. 225 million a year earlier. Its revenue was almost flat at Rs. 2.5 billion inthe first nine months.

The Financial Services sector performed well with revenues up by Rs. 500 million and profit higher from Rs. 114 million to Rs. 225 million. Diversified Business revenue was down marginally to Rs. 1.4 billion but profit grew to Rs. 912 million from Rs. 577 million.