Access Engineering’s bottom line up 37% to Rs. 2.36 b in FY13

Access Engineering Plc has recorded an impressive profit attributable to equity holders of Rs. 2,367 million for the financial year ending 31 March 2013, when compared to a profit of Rs. 1,725 million to equity holders last year.  

As per the financial results released to the Colombo Stock Exchange, turnover for the year ended 31 March 2013 recorded at Rs. 13,900 million and Rs. 11,447 million at group and company level is a growth of 90% and 64% respectively over the corresponding period.  This is the second consecutive year that the company was able to almost double its turnover in view of the growth taking place in infrastructure development and the construction industry in the country.

The year ending 31 March 2013 is the first full year of operation of Access Engineering Plc since it made its debut on the Colombo Stock Exchange after a successful IPO on 27 March 2012. Delivering under the theme “new hope,” the above results stand testimony to the same. At the company level turnover is drawn from multidisciplinary value engineering activities such as roads and highways, bridges and flyovers, water and wastewater, ports and aviation, piling, building construction and production income.

At group level, the company’s subsidiary Sathosa Motors Plc has contributed Rs. 2,311 million to the top line. The company’s fully owned subsidiary, Access Realties Ltd. also contributed to the top line with a turnover of Rs. 170 million. Stemming from the top line growth, the company’s pre-tax profit of Rs. 2,674 million and Rs. 2,301 million witnessed a growth of 32% and 33% at group and company level in the year under review.

‘Capacity building’ initiatives which have been earmarked, were further strengthened during the year ended 31 March 2013, with the company making investments to the tune of approximately Rs. 1,198 million in property, plant and equipment. Taken together with the financial year 2011/2012, the company has made an investment over Rs. 2.8 billion in ‘capacity building’ within a period of 24 months.

At present, Access Engineering owns one of the most technically advanced and up-to-date fleet of heavy construction equipment and machinery in the country. These investments also includes the acquisition and setting up of quarries, crusher plants, concrete batching plants, asphalt plants and state-of-the-art piling equipment, through which the company has successfully consolidated its multidisciplinary activities and supply chain.

These backward integration measures have enabled the company to deliver its projects to clients well ahead of the scheduled completion dates and will be a catalyst in meeting the anticipated growth rates of the forthcoming years.

The company in the short to medium term is fully focused on its core business of multi-disciplinary engineering and owing to the growth in the infrastructure and construction industry, the Board of Directors are of the opinion that sustainable growth on the short to medium term could be achievable through the core business.

The company’s liquidity profile is excellent at both company and group level. Operating activities of the company have generated a net cash inflow of Rs. 1,623 million with the net cash outflow from investing activities amounting to Rs. 1,626 million mainly due to the capacity building initiatives undertaken by the company.

The total asset base of the group stood at Rs. 16,643 million. Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent was Rs. 12,472 million which translates into a net asset per share of Rs. 12.47. The earnings per share of the group are Rs. 2.38. The company declared an interim dividend of Rs. 0.25 per share for the year 2012/2013 which was paid on 28 February 2013.

Access Engineering increased its ownership in its subsidiary Sathosa Motors up to 84.4% during the period under review. Sathosa Motors is the authorised dealer for the world-renowned Isuzu brand of motor vehicles in Sri Lanka.

Since its acquisition in February 2012, Sathosa Motors has contributed to both the top and bottom line of the company. With effect from 1 April 2013, Sathosa Motors has also entered into a joint-venture and set up SML Frontier Automotive Ltd. and acquired the dealership for Land Rover UK.

The Board of Directors of AEL comprises Chairman Sumal Perera, Managing Director Christopher Joshua, COO Rohana Fernando, Shevantha Mendis, Dharshana Munasinghe, Gration Fernando, Ranjan Gomez, Prof. Malik Ranasinghe, Niroshan Gunarathna and Alexis Lovell.