Aitken Spence shows improved performance in 2Q

Aitken Spence PLC’s quarterly revenue has increased year-on-year ( YoY) to Rs. 12.41 billion from Rs. 12.28 billion while revenue for the six months ending September 2018 was Rs. 22.98 billion.

The group also recorded an improved net asset per share value of Rs. 112.30, it said in a media release.

Profit before tax (PBT) for the six month period was Rs. 1.45 billion while the quarterly PBT was recorded as Rs. 971 million, both recording decreases over the previous year.

“After discounting the exceptional gain on disposal of Hotel Hilltop in September 2017, the group has recorded a PBT growth of 19 per cent year on year in the second quarter and registered a significant improvement over the performance of the first quarter of the current financial year,” the group said.

Aitken Spence said the tourism sector reported a decrease in profits-before-tax YoY, mainly due to the significant gain from divesting in Hotel Hill Top that amounted to Rs. 307.6 million last year.

“The devaluation of the rupee had a negative impact on the translation adjustment of foreign currency loans taken by the tourism sector, which also witnessed a drop in the contribution from Meedhuparu resort in the Maldives due to its investment made in the new resort Aarah. However, the revenue of the tourism sector was up 8.4 per cent YoY to Rs. 12.06 billion from Rs. 11.12 billion,” it was stated.

The group reported significant improvements in the maritime and logistics and services sectors. The turnaround of cargo sector and improved performance of the ship agency operation resulted in an increase in profit-before-tax for the sector with revenue increasing by 10.2 per cent to Rs. 5.62 billion from Rs. 5.10 billion.

Heritance Aarah is expected to open in February 2019. It will be the first resort outside Sri Lanka to be branded as ‘Heritance’, introducing a premium all- inclusive offering with elegantly designed villas.