Hayleys PLC for the three months ending 30th June 2009 saw three of its sectors –global markets and manufacturing sector, Fibre sector and the textiles sector recording profits, which in turn saw the company posting a 16% increase in profits to Rs 125 million compared to the Rs 107 million for the same period in 2008.
Hayleys’s new Chairman, Mohan Pandithage has said that the global manufacturing sector performed strongly, with both local and overseas operations of hand protection and purification products generating robust results, and the Fibre sector recovering from a loss situation to achieve a profit during the quarter.
“The re-engineering of the consumer sector, including exit from the consumer durables business, is now bearing results. Agri Inputs continued to perform strongly, improving upon last year’s result, while Textiles returned a creditable performance, though slightly less than last year,” Mr. Pandithage has said.
He has said that the plantation sector, the largest contributor to the first quarter of the previous year, saw performance fall well below par due to a decline in commodity prices and lacklustre demand, in particular for rubber.
“Capricious weather caused a reduction in tea output during 2009, and this situation is expected to improve marginally during the remainder of the year,” he has said, adding that transportation results were significantly affected by the steep decline in global trade and shipping volumes.
Hayleys sold its investments in Royal Heritage Hotel and Seashells Hotel after the quarter ended, and has just increased its stake in Hayleys MGT Knitting Mills by a further 14%, in line with the portfolio strategy of the Group.
Mr. Pandithage has noted that peace has opened up a vast spectrum of opportunities as large areas of the North and East return to economic activity soon. “We await the resumption of normal life in these areas, so as to increase our engagement in the fields of agriculture, infrastructure, logistics, and consumer products.” |
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