Sri Lanka’s Carsons profits up, Beverage sector revenues affected: Annual Report

July 23, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Carson Cumberbatch PLC, with investments ranging from oil palms and beer to financial services said revenue were up by 22.8 percent to 785 million rupees in 2014/2015, even though beverage segment of the company was affected due to excise duty. “Some of the tax proposals presented at the National budget early this year are considered to be, not business friendly,” Tilak de Zoysa Chairman of the Carson Cumberbatch said. “However, we are confident that the Government will review some of these proposals based on the representations made by the Chambers of Commerce on behalf of the private sector.” The company recorded a net profit of 645.7 million rupees, up by 71.8 percent compared to the financial year 13/14 where the company reported 375.9 million rupees of profit. The group revenues rose to 19.7 billion rupees from 12.7 billion rupees in the same period 2011, the group said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday. Pre-tax profits dived to 8,582 million rupees in the 2015, from 11,223 rupees reported a year earlier. Net profits slipped to 5,981 million rupees this year from 7966 million rupees reported in 2014. The Group profit attributable to equity holders of the parent for the year was 3,085 million rupees in 2014/2015 when compared to 3,799 million rupees in 2014. Carson’s stock closed up 400 rupees on Thursday (23), July 2015. Oil palms sector net profit was down 40.7 percent to 3.1 billion rupees during the twelve months under consideration, as against a profit of 5.3 billion recorded during the previous financial year. The Oils & Fats segment reported a revenue of 29.2 billion rupees for the twelve months ended 31st March 2015, which is an increase of 12.7 percent against the figure reported in financial year 13/14. Carsons says despite revenue growth, sector EBITDA for the year under review, at 211.6 million, declined by 69.2 percent year - on-year, largely due to the challenging business environment that prevailed in India as well as in the key markets in which the Malaysian entity operates in. Profitability for the year was further impaired by net finance cost of 501.1 million rupees, leading to a loss before tax of 769.4 million rupees. On account of claims made on capital expenditure incurred, the sector reported a deferred tax gain of 156.2 million against the gain of 55.6 million rupees registered in financial year 13/14. The annual report says the sector reported an overall net loss of 619.1 million rupees for the year concluded, against a loss of 128.2 million rupees in financial year 13/14. Carson’s beverage sector reported a 1.2 billion rupee profit for the year up four percent from 1.1 billion profit of the preceding year. Carsons says the group’s margin had a negative impact on the back to back increases in excise duty of the government in the beverage sector. In total the sector suffered a total cost of 640 million rupees due to the VAT exemption on the beer industry announced by the Government. Carson’s asset management segment reported a profit after tax of 1.9 billion rupees on a revenue of 2.1 billion rupees for the year ended 31st March 2015 portraying year-on-year increases of 18.7 percent and 10.3 percent respectively. Further to increased revenue, the sector profitability for the period also benefited from a 194.9 million rupees unrealized gain from the net change in fair value of short term financial assets, which is an absolute increase of 189.0 million rupees when compared against the gain registered during the previous financial year. The leisure sector witnessed 11.1 percent year-on-year increase in revenue, to record a figure of 510.5 million rupees for financial year 14/15. Carson say the overall room revenue however, was comparatively lower during the year, due to competitive room rates across the industry and a meagre growth in occupancy. The leisure sector concluded the reviewing financial year with a net profit of 83.7 million rupees, which is a commendable increase of 33.9 percent compared to the previous year. Real estate overall sector profitability for the year was at 365.1 million rupees which is an increase of 84.1 percent compared to the previous year. However Carson’s Investment Holding and Management Service reported a loss of 119 million rupees in the twelve months ended 31st March 2015, compared to the 238 million rupees loss that was made in the last year.