John Keells Holdings (JKH) on Friday released its June 2008 quarter results to shareholders and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) saying the delay was unavoidable and due to the judgment delivered against the privatisation of Lanka Marine Services Ltd (LMSL), a JKH subsidiary.

It said group profit before tax increased by 5% to Rs. 1.14 billion while group revenues increased by 31 % to Rs. 11.09 billion. Profit attributable to Equity Holders of the parent increased by 1 per cent to Rs. 833 million.

JKH Chairman Susantha Ratnayake said the “delay in the release of the quarterly results of JKH for the period ended June 30, 2008 is regretted. The delay was unavoidable in the face of the judgment that was delivered on July 21 by the Supreme Court (in the LMSL case).”

He said during the past weeks, JKH has concentrated on taking various steps to ensure full compliance ‘with the court order’.“These have been difficult times for JKH. In this context, I wish to assure our stakeholders that in keeping with the traditions, reputation and track record of transparency and ethical standards that JKH has demonstrated over the years, we will be resolute in the pursuit of our strategic direction.

The issue in LMSL may have, understandably, created questions in your own mind. You would have appreciate that this poses new challenges not only to your company but the private sector as a whole. As part of our internal processes, the Board will continue to self evaluate in this respect with an objective of achieving learnings out of the issue and towards ensuring further safeguards in transactions of this nature in future,” the chairman said in his report.