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| Saturday, 25 September 2004 |
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SriLankan doubled its profits last year by Erangika Range SriLankan Airlines has doubled its net profit registering a Rs. 4,555.14 million revenue for the financial year 2003/04. The growth in profit reflects a 94.97 percent increase compared to the previous year's Rs. 2,336.38 million. SriLankan Airline's Chief Executive Officer Peter Hill said this significant growth was due to the bold expansion program under taken by SriLankan Airlines that created and exploited opportunities in the international and domestic travel markets. "The SriLankan Airlines Group, consisting of the airline and its subsidiary SriLankan Catering Service, recorded an increase of 75.87 percent in net profit after taxation to Rs.5,635.51 million. The airline is expected to continue to increase service to India. Ahmadabad is targeted to be the 11th destination (India) this winter," Peter Hill said. "We expect this trend to continue, as we tap into the vast potential in India and further exploit the existing markets. The Airline has taken advantage of the liberalisation of several bilateral agreements, particularly India and expanded the service accordingly," Hill said. "The year 2003/2004 has been as exciting as it was challenging-exciting because of the many new products and service that SriLankan Airlines launched, many the result of innovative strategies from the management team and challenging because the international airline industry continued to be buffeted by factors such as increased fuel prices, continued concern of air travel due to the threat of terrorism and the tail end of the SARS scare," Peter Hill said. The Chief Financial Officer of SriLankan Airlines S. A. Chandrasekera said that company earnings per share increased 94.97 percent from 45.40 percent to 88.51 percent while group earnings per share increased 75.86 percent from 62.27 percent to 109.51 percent. "For the year 2003/2004, the company recorded a gross profit of Rs. 9,445.39 million, compared to the previous year's Rs. 7,018.29 million, reflecting an improvement of 35 percent in its operating performance. Group gross profit increased by Rs. 2,720.85 million to Rs. 11,009.34 million up by 33 percent," Chandrasekera said. For the year 2003/2004, total operating avenue of the company amounted to Rs. 45,397.54 million, increased by Rs.9,162.50 million, or 25.3%, from 2002/2003, primarily due to higher passenger numbers and yield. The total revenue of the group was Rs. 46,191.34 million, up by Rs. 9,294.46 million, or 25.2%, from the previous year. The Head of Commercial G. T. Jeyaseelan said that the airline launched a large number of new projects in the year under review. These included SriLakan Air Taxi, an amphibious domestic service that now serves 10 destinations. New services were launched to two destinations in India-Kochi and Hyderabad - and services were resumed to Karachi. The airline, which began the financial year with 11 aircraft, increased its fleet to 17 with the acquisition of two Airbus A340s, two Airbus A320s, an Antonov AN12F freighter, and an amphibious Cessna Caravan floatplane. |
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