Profit After Tax rose to
This performance for the year is achieved despite of the stoppage in production and sales towards the second half of March due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The operations were running at full capacity and sales at its peak with the Sinhala Avurudu festival round the corner when the pandemic catastrophe impacted the total country's business environment. Restricted working hours and curfew situation imposed due to COVID-19 resulted in stoppage of bottle production by mid-March, yet the kiln was kept live incurring considerable energy cost.
With the Food, Pharmaceutical and Agro Chemical sector industries being declared as essential services
The turnover for the quarter ended 31 March showed a decline of 10% at
During the year, the company witnessed 12% growth in the domestic market and an overall growth of 2%.
The investment of over
During this quarter, the company continued with its new innovative product developments and launches in the export market in its varied colour range.
Whilst Gross Margin for the quarter under review fell from 27% to 16% when compared with the similar period of the previous year, the company was able to maintain the Annual Gross Margin at par with the previous year at 19%.
The PBT for the year stood at
Commenting on the fourth quarter performance, Executive Director and COO
He also continued to say: 'The company has faced a challenging quarter, and the results have been adversely impacted from mid-March and is expected to bear a ripple effect in the future too. As the COVID-19 pandemic situation is still evolving, it is difficult to quantify the future business impact on the company.
'However, we are committed to ensure uninterrupted supply of glass bottles to all our customers and we believe that demand would gradually get back to normalcy during the coming financial year. The export sales have also come under pressure due to lockdown situations and the new rules and regulations laid down by different countries.'
The company has restarted manufacturing site with 100% capacity utilisation from the second half of May with all necessary arrangements at our work locations to ensure stringent levels of hygiene and safety as per respective Government regulatory guidelines.
© Pakistan Press International, source