Kelani Valley bottomline red in 2Q owing to high investment
View(s):Kelani Valley Plantations saw its bottomline in red in 2Q18 owing to high investment in its start-up, Hayleys Global Beverages, officials say.
The company which is 71 per cent owned by Hayleys PLC subsidiary, Dipped Products set up a new unit, Hayleys Global Beverages Ltd (HGBL) to process and manufacture Ready-to-Drink (RDT) tea in 2015. This was established with Kelani Valley as the minority shareholder with 40 per cent and Hayleys PLC as the majority owner with the balance. “It’s a Rs. 2.5 billion investment and we are trying hard at making it profitable which will take about three more years,” an official told the Business Times. He also added that their power company, Kalupahana Power Company (Pvt) Ltd hasn’t turned in profits during this period which has also affected Kelani Valley’s bottomline.
In 2Q18 the company posted a gross profit of Rs.222 million (against a loss in 2Q17) but its bottomline however was in the red primarily due to the mentioned losses in the associate tea company along with high administration costs, results showed. While the company’s rubber sector didn’t perform well at all, its tea incomes and profits didn’t show an increase during the last quarter.