LIOC profits soar as fuel prices stabilise
Lanka IOC, the only Sri Lankan fuel retailer other than the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, saw its post-tax profits more than double to Rs 1.0 billion in the quarter to June 2008 from Rs 490 million in the corresponding 2007 period despite fluctuating fuel prices and higher costs during the period under review. LIOC, in a communication to the Colombo Stock Exchange late on Wednesday, said interest/finance costs fell sharply while turnover increased marginally to Rs 10.9 billion from Rs 9.7 billion in the periods under review. Gross profit at Rs 1.2 billion was marginally up from Rs 973 million but the lower interest costs boosted net profits. World fuel prices have been easing in recent months to a low of $109 per barrel against a high of $140. The LIOC share in the Colombo bourse has gained in recent weeks (before June) in anticipation that the company profits will rise with overseas crude rates falling.

DFCC 1Q09 net profit up 30% to Rs 515 million
DFCC Bank saw its net profit up 30% to Rs 515 million from Rs 395 million for the same period last year, according to a statement by the Bank.

Nihal Fonseka, General Manager and CEO at DFCC in his review, has said that ‘good control’ was exercised over non-interest expenses of the bank but that DFCC Vardhana Bank (DVB) continued to incur costs relating to expanding its network and building capacity and infrastructure for the future following a conscious decision that was taken to continue with the expansion strategy, albeit with some modifications. “The cost to income ratio for the Bank and DVB combined was 31% compared with 36% in the previous period. A legislative change effective from March 2008 further increased the charge for Financial Services Value Added Tax. The Rs 141 million incurred for the quarter was Rs 24 million higher than what it would have been on the basis of the previous computation methodology,” he has said.
The statement said the consolidated diluted earnings per share for the current period increased to Rs 3.95 from Rs 3.08 in the comparable period.

Ceylon Glass reports losses in June quarter
Ceylon Glass Company Limited (CGCL) has reported a loss of Rs 120 million for the quarter ending June 2008 as against a profit of Rs 44 million in the same period last year despite a steady growth in sales.
According to its CEO Sanjay Tiwari, the major reasons for the loss were soaring energy costs, rising Soda Ash prices and other domestic raw material, as well as increasing costs of packing material. “The energy cost is constituted of Furnace Oil, LPG and Electricity which amounts to almost 40% of the cost of production. Thus, the steep increase in the tariff of any of the above sources of fuel directly impacts the performance of the company,” he said in a statement. The company has experienced an increase of 70% in Furnace Oil prices, 74% in LPG prices and over 30% in Electricity prices in the first quarter of the current financial year alone as compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The company has reported a sales value of Rs 679 million in same quarter, up from Rs 469 million in the 2007 quarter. Mr Tiwari said that most of the raw materials used for glass are found locally in the central province. Thus the high increase in diesel costs had negatively impacted on the raw material prices by over a minimum of 20% which constitutes a very high component of the company’s transport costs, he said.

Kelani Tyres PLC 1Q09 net loss down 86 % to Rs 1.6 million
Kelani Tyres Plc, the tyre manufacturing firm, saw its 1Q09 net loss down 86 percent to Rs.1.6 million compared to Rs.11 million during the same period last year, as per the results released by the company to the Colombo Stock Exchange.

During this period, the company recorded a slight increase in sales to Rs.2.6 million compared to the Rs.2.5 million in the same period last year.

Amana Takaful shows loss
The interim report for the six months ended 30th June 2008 for insurance company Amana Takaful PLC showed a net loss of Rs.8.1 million in the first half of 2008, down 86%. The company posted an 87 % loss from operations of Rs.7.5 million and a 17 % loss in finance costs.

Bukit Darah's strong performance
Bukit Darah PLC showed strong performances from palm oil plantations and its investment holdings sectors in the interim report for the three months ended 30th June 2008. The change in fair value of biological asset was up 109 % year on year to Rs.357 million.

Printcare PLC
Printcare's net profit for the quarter ended 30th June 2008 was up 5 % year on year to Rs.8 million.

Carson Cumberbatch profits up
Interim results for the three months ended 30th June 2008 shows Carson Cumberbatch had strong growth in profits from its palm oil plantations and share trading capital gains from its sale of Hayleys and Sri Lanka Telecom shares in the first quarter. Total assets for the first quarter of 2008 shows group revenue at Rs.5.77 billion, up from Rs.3.28 billion the previous year. Similarly, first quarter net profit is 2.58 billion, up from Rs.1.11 billion the previous year.

The company stated that its overseas oil palm plantation sector continues to be the dominant contributor to the Group results, riding the crest of the global commodity market upsurge. However, the company's beverage sector turned in a 30 % increase in revenue against the comparative period last year but a negative profit after tax figures depicting the high operational costs. Increased prices and the scarcity of its main raw materials have impacted the production in this sector.

Lankem revenue, profits up
Revenue for the three months ended 30th June 2008 at Lankem was up 43.7 % to Rs.2.8 million from Rs.2 million against the comparative period last year. The profit before tax was up by 200.4 percent for the same period in 2008 to Rs.287 million from Rs.95.6 million the previous year.