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| Chairman Ajit Jayaratne |
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| Group CEO/Director Pravir Samarasinghe
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Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC has surpassed the full FY21 financial results in the first half of the current financial year.
The company said it has recorded a steady growth in revenue and profitability, primarily driven by the Havelock City Residential sales, to record a Group Revenue of Rs. 10.53 billion as against Rs. 3 billion a year ago, and a Group Profit Before Tax of Rs. 4.36 billion as against Rs. 904.5 million
In FY21, the revenue amounted to Rs. 7.7 b and pre-tax profit was Rs. 2.8 billion and after tax profit was Rs. 2.5 billion.
The company Revenue of Rs. 1,061 million at the World Trade Centre, Colombo was 5% higher than the corresponding period of last year, due mainly to higher rental rates. Revenue of Rs. 9,285 million was recorded by 30 June 2022 from residential sales of Havelock City, compared to Rs. 1,665 million in the previous period.
The strong growth in Revenue and Profitability was fronted by the robust performance of Havelock City residential sales during the first four months of 2022. Expectation of the weakening rupee and an increase in inflation in the past few months, resulted in a strong demand for residential property.
“Amidst the many difficulties including the economic crisis and import restrictions and with support extended to the contractor, 95.5% of the works of the Mireka Tower and Shopping Mall at Havelock City were completed by the end of June 2022. However, the acute shortage of foreign exchange in the country, and the consequential inability to repay foreign currency borrowings and the resultant forex exposure is a concern,” Group Director/CEO Pravir Samarasinghe said.
“The steep depreciation of the rupee by 80% during the second quarter resulted in the group recording a significant exchange loss on the foreign currency loans. Further, since then, the velocity of residential sales have reduced drastically,” he added.
Havelock City Commercial Development comprising a 50 storey Office Tower named Mireka Tower offering Grade “A” premium office space and an International Standard Shopping Mall providing a range of fashion, food and beverage and entertainment experiences is currently under construction and is expected to be opened by October 2022. Pre-leasing for both Office and Shopping space have commenced.
A limited number of ready to move in luxury apartments in both Phases 3 and 4 of Havelock City are available for immediate occupancy.
The Group Net Asset Value per Share as at 30 June 2022 stood at Rs. 39.74 and the Earnings per Share for the period was Rs. 3.07.
