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Monday, 17 February 2014 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The net profit attributable to equity holders of the Group reached Rs. 680 in comparison to the Rs.191 million recorded during the corresponding period last year.
Commenting on the performance, Expolanka Holdings PLC Group CEO Hanif Yusoof said: “This quarter we have been able to achieve tremendous progress on our restructure plans and have been able to divest several non-core businesses, which have enabled us to unlock shareholder value. Timely divestures of these non-focus areas of businesses have enabled us to unlock value for our shareholders and redirect funds and capital towards higher ROE businesses. In line with the restructure program we divested several non-core businesses in this quarter, namely Expolanka Commodities, Lanka Premier Foods and APIIT. Earlier during the financial year we divested HelloCorp. We are encouraged by the results of these strategies and will continue to pursue this line of thinking in future.”
The strategic restructure was undertaken with the aim of focusing the Group attention on the core business sector, Freight and Logistics.
The Freight and Logistics sector recorded a healthy revenue growth in comparison to the corresponding period last year. The revenue grew to Rs. 26 billion during the year under review from Rs. 22.5 billion during the same period last year.
In a challenging market environment, the sector was able to increase business volume in all segments, the results, however, were affected by pressure on margins stemming from core markets in India and Bangladesh. This affected the overall sector profit growth. Strong performances of new ventures in Hong Kong, China and USA in this sector fully endorse the Group’s strategy to invest in these markets.
In the Travel and Leisure sector, consolidation of existing businesses has resulted in significant growth in revenue of Rs. 2 billion from Rs. 1.4 billion recorded in the corresponding period last year. The increased revenues did not compensate for the increased costs that resulted from the initiatives to drive the business and the pressure on margins.
International trading and manufacturing sector recorded a revenue growth of 34 percent reaching Rs. 12.1 billion from Rs. 9.1 billion recorded during the corresponding period last year. This was a result of increased exports of perishables, tea and commodity products. The sector faced challenges in managing margins as a result of fluctuations in commodity prices.
Yusoof stated: “In the current business year, we will concentrate on achieving higher profitability and continued growth in all business units. These will be supported by the measures that have already been taken in the past months, such as the Group restructure, more stringent cost management and process optimisation in working capital.”
