RIL prepares for READYWEAR bldg
View(s):Commercial space owners, RIL Property PLC will complete its READYWEAR building within a year to mirror the success of its PARKLAND commercial building, officials say.
“READYWEAR building has 59,000 square feet of rentable space and we’re getting a lot of interest from prestigious local and foreign corporates,” Hiroshini Fernando CEO RIL told the Business Times.
RIL Property PLC saw its group profit after tax for the last quarter increasing by 37 per cent to Rs. 21.2 million. PARKLAND reached 100 per cent occupancy during the last quarter.
Ms. Fernando noted that the ‘much discussed’ property bubble has more to do with apartments and not rented commercial space.
The company raised Rs. 960 million through an invitation to the general public to purchase 120 million new Ordinary Voting Shares at a share issue price of Rs. 8 in April. The company listed on the Main Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange on May 4, 2017.
Its IPO for 120 million shares was oversubscribed by 1.3 times but the share is currently trading below IPO price at a record low, having hit a high of Rs. 9 on its debut.
Further the expansion of the company’s BreadTalk operations through Foodbuzz continued with the completion of the expansion of the Central kitchen located at Lipton Circus.
The two new outlets in Maharagama and Mt. Lavinia reached full operation during the quarter, Ms. Fernando said noting that through these expansions the Foodbuzz is seeing changes and will turn around during the second quarter. “We need to work a little bit more on Foodbuzz,” Mrs. Fernando noted.
The company’s IPO saw some new shareholders including Commercial Bank, Melstacorp PLC, CDIC, Phoenix Ventures and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC).
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has 3.683 per cent in RIL with Melstacorp Plc owing 3.072 per cent. Phoenix Ventures Private Limited has 2 per cent and SLIC has 1.667 per cent.
The Yaseen family owns 74 per cent in RIL. Ms. Fernando added that BreadTalk next branch will be at Wattala, to be opened in the third quarter of the current financial year.
(Duruthu)