Aitken Spence PLC said this week its profits' growth was driven, not unexpectedly, by its resort portfolio in the Maldives which has six properties in the 4-star, 5-star and 5-star boutique, with a total of 608 rooms and water villas.
Growth also came from its maritime services arm, which includes operations in southern Africa, the company said in a statement in reporting results for the six months ended 30th September 2011.
It has a total of 24 resorts in Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Oman, with the resorts in the Maldives doing very well over the years.
Pre-tax profits reached Rs 1.7 billion, up 7.5% from the corresponding period last year while group revenue rose by 8% to Rs. 13 billion. Earnings per share rose by 8.4% to Rs. 2.79.
The company has operations in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa with major interests in hotels, travel, maritime services, logistics and power generation. It also has a significant presence in plantations, printing, financial services, insurance, information technology and garments.
While the tourism and cargo logistics sectors contributed positively to revenue, the strategic investments sector showed a decline in revenue for the period under review. “We are pleased to report strong performance by our printing and garment businesses” said J M S Brito, Aitken Spence PLC’s Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, said in the statement.
Two of the Group’s resorts in Sri Lanka in Kalutara and Negombo remained closed during the six months for renovation while the former Neptune Hotel, now rebranded and repositioned as Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara was closed during most of the reporting period. Mr Brito said internationally the country is seen to be a better location to invest and conduct business. “In addition to attracting one of the world’s best known spa operators (Six Senses) to invest in our tourism industry, we are looking at attracting major international investments to the country which are expected to break new ground in the Sri Lankan economy.
We are confident that the government’s continuing efforts to improve the environment in which businesses could contribute towards strong and sustainable economic growth would assist our efforts to attract greater foreign direct investment into the country,” he added.
During the period under review Aitken Spence Printing was awarded the ISO 9001 quality certification, a testament to the heritage of quality and reliability by the countries pioneering printing and packaging service provider. |
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