Aitken Spence PLC records 29 per cent drop in pre-tax 1Q 2018

Blue chip conglomerate Aitken Spence PLC reported a drop of 29.3 per cent pre-tax profit to Rs. 480 million in the first 2018-19 quarter from Rs. 678 million over the previous year.

Revenue for the same period eased by 9.2 per cent to Rs. 10.6 billion from Rs. 11.6 billion in the same quarter last year, the company said in a media release

Despite the impact of the exchange rates and increase in costs, revenue from the tourism sector remained strong as in the previous year rising by 4.7 per cent to Rs. 4.9 billion. The revenue increased across Sri Lanka, the Maldives and India markets while Oman reported a reduction.

However, the tourism sector reported a loss of Rs. 262 million for the quarter over the previous year with lower occupancies in the Maldivian resorts and a lack of significant improvement in occupancy levels in Sri Lankan hotels contributing towards the losses.

The maritime and logistics’ sector revenue increased by 12 per cent to Rs.2.2 billion, driven by an improved contribution from the freight, courier and shipping agency businesses.

The company said major expenses were incurred on the construction of Heritance Aarah resort, in the Maldives and the 10 MW waste-to-energy power plant in north of Colombo.

The construction of Heritance Aarah is expected to open in the Maldives by the end of 2018. Heritance Aarah will be the first resort outside Sri Lanka to be branded as ‘Heritance’, introducing a premium all-inclusive offering with elegantly designed villas.

The construction of Heritance Aarah is expected to open in the Maldives by the end of 2018.