First Capital records Rs. 231 m PAT 2016/17

First Capital Holdings PLC, a full service investment bank providing a diverse range of advisory services and financial products through its subsidiaries, (First Capital Group) reported a consolidated profit after tax of Rs. 231 million for the year 2016/17 compared to Rs. 47 million in the previous year. 

The Group’s primary dealer arm, First Capital Treasuries PLC, was the main contributor towards the financial results recording a profit after tax of Rs. 343 million for the year 2016/17 (2015/16 – Rs. 11 million) attributed to net interest income and fair valuation gains on government securities. First Capital Treasuries is the pioneer non-bank Primary Dealer appointed by Central Bank in 1982 and is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Further, the company’s credit rating was reaffirmed by ICRA Lanka as A- with stable outlook. 

The capital markets advisory of the Group, First Capital Ltd., which specialises in structuring and placement of corporate debt securities, successfully mobilised Rs. 12.4 billion through structuring and placement of corporate debt securities. Despite the above performance First Capital Ltd. was negatively affected as a result of higher funding cost and fair valuation losses on trading securities. 

The performance of the Group’s subsidiaries was further impacted due to damped investor sentiments as a result of the proposed changes to taxation via the budget proposal – 2017. “Despite the setback experienced in the preceding quarters, the Group is optimistic in its outlook and have planned several calculated improvements to its operations,” said Director/ Group CEO Dilshan Wirasekara.