CIC’s Dambulla dairy facility up by April
View(s):By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera
CIC Holdings PLC will commission its dairy milk processing operation in Dambulla costing Rs 600 million by end April, officials said.
“We will commission this production facility in Dambulla for dairy products by end April,” Samantha Ranatunga Managing Director/CEO CIC told the Business Times. He added this facility will have around 25,000 litres capacity per day and all the products will be used for local consumption.
He also said that CIC’s Hingurakgoda farms and newly commissioned Siddapura and Muthuwella farms are expected to cater to the growing demand of dairy industry in the country.
He added that now the focus of CIC, which is famously known as a paint/chemical company is to grow its agricultural and livestock sectors. “This is because these sectors give some of the best opportunities in the current economy in the country,” he said. He said that CIC’s agriculture and livestock sector stands as the core business accounting to a contribution of 52 per cent of total revenue at CIC.
The company has operations in producing agricultural inputs such as seeds, planting material, livestock products, and distribution of machineries plus blending and marketing fertilizer.
The company has also ventured into Bangladesh with a large Bangladeshi supermarket chain called Rahimafrooz where CIC does extension work with Bangladeshi farmers and source agricultural produce to this chain. “We’re replicating the same model, which we do here in Sri Lanka, in Bangladesh,” he said, explaining that by promoting CIC’s agricultural model, the company will tap new potential markets in the future.
CIC’s gross profit has reported an increase of 16 per cent year on year to Rs. 1.9 billion in the last quarter against the Rs. 1.6 billion in the same period last year. The improved weather condition witnessed during the last quarter saw the agriculture and livestock sectors perform better resulting in improved economies of scale and aided the group to record a gross profit growth. Moreover, gross profit margin for the quarter ended December improved to 28 per cent from 26 per cent recorded during the previous corresponding period. Meanwhile, the gross profits during the first nine months of the current financial year depicted a marginal increase to Rs.4.2 billion.
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