Profits slump at Piramal Glass
View(s):Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC (PGC) has reported a turnover of Rs. 6.78 billion for the year ending March 2017, up slightly from Rs. 6.75 billion in the previous year while post tax profit fell to Rs. 485 million from Rs.654 million earlier.
The company said in a media release that this performance was amidst a 2-month closure for furnace relining and upgrade. “The Board of Directors has proposed a dividend of 26 per cent thereby maintaining its consistent policy of dividend pay-out ratio of 50 per cent,” it said.
Gross profit fell to Rs.1.37 billion from Rs. 1.49 billion earlier due to high trading volume which yielded slim margins. Pre-tax profit fell to Rs. 603 million against Rs. 805 million earlier.
Export sales for the year fell to Rs. 1.21 billion against Rs. 1.32 billion in 2016, the decline due to capacity constraints resulting from two months of furnace closure.
Declining profits for the year were not only due to the partial shutdown of the furnace but also because of fluctuating energy prices (LPG gas), including high furnace oil prices. Also a significant impact of the rupee depreciation of over 4 per cent was experienced during the year which had a major impact due to the high imports throughout the year under review.