Going public, acquiring Sathosa Motors Ltd, expanding its construction work across the country, and being (almost) totally debt free were some of the achievements of Access Engineering Ltd in the year ending March 2012,
Access Engineering Ltd, the first company which had an IPO in 2012 (March) has had a very successful year of operations in terms of the financial results released for the ensuing year.
In a company media statement, Chairman/ CEO of Access Engineering, Sumal Perera, said 2011/12 was a landmark year for the company with the main focus of building capacity.
"We are well geared to take advantage of the unprecedented growth that is taking place in infrastructure development and the construction industry. Some of the key highlights in capacity growth were increasing the stated capital from Rs. 3 billion to Rs. 9 billion (this includes the private placement of Rs. 4.5 billion and the IPO of Rs. 500 million); investing Rs. 1.5 billion in plant/ machinery and increasing the workforce from to 2,700 from 1600," he said adding that" we were able to achieve the best financial results in our short history of 10 years."
Access Engineering carried out many engineering and construction projects with a host of locally and internationally acclaimed business partners. Among them were the construction and improvement to the Batticaloa - Trincomalee (A15) road project, the Jaffna - Kankesanthurai - Palali road project, the Kantale - Trincomalee (A6) road project, the Galagedara - Rambukkana road project, the Mannar - Nawakkuli (A32) road project, the Batticaloa water tower project and the Ambalantota Salinity Barrier project.
"The last financial year included three significant events - completion of the successful private placement, acquiring of Sathosa Motors PLC and the listing of Access Engineering Ltd at the Colombo Stock Exchangee.
This gears us well for future growth and to enhance the group's future business potential. Something significant that all our stakeholders could take comfort is that, in an era where there is a tendency of increasing interest rates, Access remains totally debt free and has a healthy liquidity position with positive cash balances at both company and group levels", he said.
Turnover doubled to Rs. 7.31 billion during the financial year 2011/ 2012. Fourth quarter turnover was Rs. 2.79 billion against Rs. 1.27 billion in the same quarter in the previous year.
Gross profit rose to Rs. 2.11 billion, up 63 % from Rs. 1.29 billion last year. Pre-tax earnings stood at Rs. 2.03 billion with a 47% increase and post-tax earnings was Rs. 1.73 billion, up 80% from last year.
The statement reiterated that the company is currently in possession of a very strong balance sheet with almost zero debt.
This negligible level of gearing is highlighted with the company having an interest cover of 103 times and at group level, an interest cover of 122 times. |
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