Access Engineering ups 3Q pre-tax profit by 73% to Rs. 820 m

Access Engineering PLC, has recorded a profit before tax of Rs. 820 million for the quarter ended on 31 December 2017, up by 73% from an year earlier and first nine months figure grew by 37.5% to Rs. 2.3 billion. 

At the group level before tax profits for the quarter and nine months were recorded at Rs. 906 million and Rs. 2.5 billion respectively with YoY corresponding growth levels of 35.6% and 14.4%.  

Performance of the company in terms of revenue is commendable too with Rs. 4.2 billion and 10.6 billion recorded for the quarter and the cumulative period translating to corresponding YoY growth levels of 55.8% and 24.5%. 

At the Group level the top line was recorded at Rs. 5.2 billion and Rs. 15.2 billion respectively, a growth of 24.8% and 16.6%. For the cumulative revenue the contribution of construction related material was Rs. 1.6 billion, a YoY growth of 36% while the contribution of construction activities amounted to Rs. 7.9 billion, a YoY growth of 15.1%.

The healthy top line growth partly enabled the company to record a superior quarterly gross profit of Rs. 1 billion and Rs. 1.3 billion at Company & Group level respectively with corresponding margins of 24.5% and 25.8%. For the cumulative period gross margin was recorded at 25.2% & 24.4% at Company & Group level respectively. Net profit attributable to owners of the company was Rs. 1.7 billion and Rs. 561 million respectively for the nine months and quarter at the Company level, a YoY growth of 16.7% and 31.1% respectively. At the Group level this was Rs. 1.8 billion and Rs. 629 million respectively, a corresponding growth of 2.4% and 15.6%. 

The concessionary tax rate on construction activities was removed from the recent budget to be effective from 1 April 2017. As a result the differed tax provision taken at the revised rate of 28% resulted in the company’s tax expense rising to Rs. 258 million and Rs. 565 million respectively for the quarter and the cumulative period, a YoY increase of 458.5% and 211.1%.   

Total comprehensive income for the cumulative period was Rs. 1.7 billion and Rs. 1.9 billion respectively at Company & Group level. For the quarter this was recorded at Rs. 562 million and Rs. 626 million respectively. The share of profit from the Group’s Associates amounted to Rs. 19 million and Rs. 9 million respectively for the nine months and the quarter with a corresponding growth of 114.6% and 20.3%. 

During the nine months period, the company’s 100% owned subsidiary Access Realties Ltd. generated a profit before tax of Rs. 125 million up by 5.9% YoY while it’s 84% owned subsidiary Sathosa Motors PLC generated a PBT Rs. 203 million, a YoY drop of 42.8%. The 80% owned Access Projects Ltd. generated a PBT of Rs. 101 million, a YoY drop of 28%.

As at 31 December 2016, the total asset base of the company amounted to Rs. 32 billion and Rs. 27.7 billion at Group and Company level respectively. The equity attributed to the owners of the company was recorded at Rs. 18.3 billion at the Group level while it was Rs. 16.7 billion at Company level. This had been translated in to a Net asset per share of Rs. 18.34 at Group level and Rs. 16.71 at Company level. In January 2017 the company disclosed that it invested Rs. 2.2 billion in Hotel 10 Ltd. a joint venture with China Harbour Engineering Company and Mustafa’s Singapore, with plans to develop approximately 1,000 condominium housing units and 125,000 sq. ft. of commercial space. 

The Board of Directors of Access Engineering PLC comprises of Sumal Perera (Chairman), Christopher Joshua (Managing Director), Rohana Fernando (COO), Shevantha Mendis, Dharshana Munasinghe, Dilhan Perera, Ranjan Gomez, Professor Malik Ranasinghe, Niroshan Gunaratne and Dinesh Weerakkody.