Hayleys sees challenging 1Q but fares better than others

Mirroring macro difficulties, Sri Lanka’s most diversified blue chip Hayleys PLC has seen a challenging 1Q in FY24 with consolidated after tax profit down by 92% to Rs. 1.3 billion.

Pre-tax profit was down by 89% year on year to Rs. 2.3 billion. Group top line too had seen a 22% dip to Rs. 97 billion.

Despite the downturn, Hayleys figures were still the best among the diversified blue chips in terms of revenue and after tax profit.

Operating profit was down by 54% to Rs. 8.3 billion. In 1Q of FY23, Hayleys had the benefit of Rs. 1.8 billion net finance income whereas in the 1Q of FY24, it was a negative Rs. 6 billion.

Almost all segments except plantations and leisure saw lower revenues in 1Q whilst except textiles, rest of the sectors suffered dip in profits. Construction materials suffered a loss of Rs. 136 million as against a profit of Rs. 219 million. Leisure reduced its losses to Rs. 191 million from Rs. 367 million a year ago.

In FY23, Hayleys achieved its highest ever revenue and pre-tax profit despite a challenging environment. Group revenue rose by 44% to Rs. 487.4 billion in FY23 whilst pre-tax profit grew by 20% to Rs. 42.75 billion.