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Singer’s quarterly profit falls 4% as finance costs more than double

Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC reported a 4 percent fall in Group profit for the September quarter as higher finance costs and taxes on financial services outweighed a 20 percent rise in operating profit.

Group profit after tax fell to Rs. 1.45 billion in the three months ended September 30 from Rs. 1.52 billion a year earlier, according to its interim financial statements. Profit attributable to shareholders fell 5.5 percent to Rs. 1.36 billion, while earnings per share declined to Rs. 1.16 from Rs. 1.23.

Revenue rose 21 percent to Rs. 35.68 billion, with financial services accounting for more than a third of the increase. Revenue from that segment rose 43 percent to Rs. 7.26 billion, while home appliances, Singer’s largest segment by turnover, grew 15 percent to Rs. 11.43 billion. Revenue from automobiles and other products climbed 39 percent to Rs. 4.61 billion.

The gains were uneven across segments. Financial services profit rose 48 percent to Rs. 1.93 billion, while home appliance profit fell 8 percent to Rs. 993 million despite higher sales. Consumer electronics profit declined 28 percent to Rs. 190 million even as turnover grew 17 percent.

Group operating profit increased by Rs. 628 million to Rs. 3.71 billion. A Rs. 578 million rise in net finance costs to Rs. 1.05 billion absorbed most of that gain, while value-added tax on financial services rose by Rs. 91 million to Rs. 366 million. Profit before tax fell 2 percent to Rs. 2.29 billion.

Group interest-bearing loans and borrowings rose to Rs. 90.22 billion at the end of September from Rs. 79.60 billion at the end of March, while inventories increased to Rs. 41.67 billion from Rs. 34.22 billion.

For the six months ended September 30, Group revenue rose 30% to Rs. 74.41 billion and profit after tax increased 20 percent to Rs. 3.69 billion. The Group used Rs. 3.61 billion in operating cash over the half year, down from Rs. 9.31 billion a year earlier.

Singer’s three largest registered shareholders as of September 30 were Hayleys PLC with 67.13 percent, Hayleys Advantis Limited with 9.54 percent and Volanka (Pvt) Limited with 2.98 percent