Piramal Glass Ceylon profits down 73-pct in H1 2017

Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC has successfully completed the 1st half of F2017 with its revenue crossing Rs.3 Bn mark & with a growth of 3% as against previous year H1. This was a remarkable performance as the company had to supply the market whilst its factory was non-operational for a period of 2 months for the upgrade & capacity enhancement. During this period the market was supplied with bottles from the limited stock company had built and balance through trading. Almost 50% of the sale was sourced from imports. Bottles were mainly imported from the parent company, Piramal Glass limited, India (PGL). The company with the help of PGL ensured timely delivery with least stock holding costs to both parties. Trading of bottles is not at all profitable venture as due to cost differential of bottles in India & other parts of world and huge transportation cost. Yet a conscious decision was taken by the management to import even at break-even price to ensure customer of continuous deliveries thereby maintaining the commitment of uninterrupted supplies to all segments. Nevertheless this decision has impacted the profitability margins during the 1st half of the year as against the previous year. The Gross Profit has reduced from Rs. 643Mn in F16 1st Half Rs. 401 in F17 similar period. Thus resulting in a PBT of Rs. 93Mn in F17 as against Rs.342Mn in F16 similar period. The Piramal glass plant which commenced its campaign in December 2007 at Horana was stopped after continuous operation of almost 9 years in July 2016. A glass furnace has to be overhauled every 8-10 years. Similarly PGC too planned and overhauled its plant & took this opportunity to enhance its furnace capacity to maximum of 300 MT per day. Simultaneously the downstream equipment such as production lines, quality inspection machines, packing machines & several other utility equipment were also upgraded & capacity enhanced to facilitate the increased furnace capacity. At half year the company achieved a domestic sale of Rs.2,586 Mn as against Rs. 2,497 Mn & the export sales stood at Rs. 543 Mn same as previous year, due to the restriction of production capacity and all efforts being made to facilitate the domestic market to its best. This year too Piramal Glass Ceylon was recognised at the 24th NCE Export Award Ceremony by presentation of a Gold Award in the Industry Sector – Large Category. Mr. Sanjay Tiwari CEO, Managing Director of Piramal Glass Ceylon Said “We are very positive about the future of the company. With the enhanced and modernized infrastructure now in place we are confident that we would be able to keep up the same momentum of performance. We will achieve this by fully serving the domestic market & increasing the business on the specialized segments in the international market.” (Media Release)