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JKH vehicle trading business books Rs 2.5b profit on sales of 6,000 cars
View(s):By Kapila Bandara
John Keells Holdings’ vehicle trading business has reported an after-tax profit of Rs 2.415 billion in the second quarter of the financial year 2025-2026 and sold more than 6,000 vehicles over two quarters.
This is its share of the profit from the 50% owned subsidiary, JKCG Auto (Private) Limited, which has “a further 3,800 orders’’ in hand. The business booked a Rs 33 million loss in the year before quarter.
In the second quarter, the trading business sold 3,705 vehicles from the Chinese brand BYD. In the first quarter, JKCG sold 2,307 vehicles. In the two quarters, the business sold more than 6,000 vehicles.
Some BYD models are described as promising “cutting-edge performance”. A BYD Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid model is offered at more than Rs 25 million. A Dolphin compact electric (54 kilowatts) has a price tag of more than Rs 10.7m.
Sales of BYD electrics “have been muted’’ after Sri Lanka Customs detained some models, the conglomerate JKH said. Customers who had booked had been offered an alternative Chinese brand as an option.
JKCG is no longer treated as a joint venture trading Chinese BYD electric vehicles in Sri Lanka.
John Keells Holdings has increased its bank guarantee to Rs 6.532b from Rs 3.366b reported on March 31, 2025, to Sri Lanka Customs in the continuing dispute on potential duties and electric motor power of some vehicle models it imported from China’s BYD and then detained.
The vehicle trading business has switched to offering hybrids after Sri Lanka Customs detained BYD imports. Some early imports were cleared.
This week, JKCG rolled out three hybrid ‘Denza’ models in the mall at City of Dreams, Sri Lanka. The mall is directly accessible from the City of Dreams Sri Lanka casino. For BYD, the Denza brand was the result of a joint venture with Germany’s Daimler. Pre-orders began in October, the JKH said.
In an investor webinar following the financial results announcement, JKH described sales of hybrids as “encouraging’’.
Earlier, some BYD vehicles were cleared on the basis of a bank guarantee following relief granted by the Court of Appeal, at which JKCG contested the detention by Sri Lanka Customs.
Following two more writs filed in the Court of Appeal in September and October, Sri Lanka Customs agreed to release the remaining detained vehicles, JKCG announced this week. Sri Lanka Customs has undertaken to report to court on the testing of electric vehicle motors. JKCG said it gave a diagnostic tool to Sri Lanka Customs as well, based on a request.
JKCG’s vehicle business lifted the financial performance of the JKH retail operations, which in turn contributed significantly to group performance. In the second quarter, the retail business posted a profit of Rs 3.067b, the best performer in the JKH group in the period. Profit improved by 467% from the year before quarter when it booked Rs 541m in income.
Attributable group profit in the second quarter was Rs.1.65b versus Rs.1.37b in the same period the year before, JKH reported. Group revenue was Rs.144.76b, an increase of 88% against Rs 76.96b in the 2024/25 second quarter.
In a rights issue, the company has raised Rs 24 billion to support equity financing obligations of subsidiary Waterfront Properties (Private) Limited, which rents the City of Dreams Sri Lanka casino floor space to Hong Kong-listed Melco Resorts & Entertainment. The JKH and Melco partnership in the casino project was announced in April 2024. The Melco casino formally opened in August.
Waterfront Properties is not required to pay taxes for 10 years from the first year of profit, or three years from operations. WPL is also the holding company of residential and office spaces at Cinnamon Life.
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