ETI nine-month profits rise to Rs. 150 million

Edirisinghe Trust Investments Limited (ETI), a member of the EAP Consolidated, entered into record breaking mode in the third quarter of the financial year 2007/08.

Profit margins topped Rs. 150 million while the turnover zoomed to Rs. 996 million, said CEO, Mahendra de Silva.

In comparison to estimated results, the actuals have exceeded estimates by 146 per cent and 100 per cent respectively, he added.

ETI’s outstanding success has been brought about by the company’s core business, pawning and the new brand ‘ETI Homes’. Pawning grew by 17 per cent during the period under review while ETI Homes exceeded targets by 37 per cent.

Overall, ETI invested Rs. 5.2 billion in new business, de Silva said. “We are very confident of exceeding our annual turnover and profit targets of Rs. 1.5 billion and Rs. 194 million respectively by huge margins,” the CEO said.

Another new inclusion to the ETI range “ETI Leasing” has already shown potential and attracted an investment of Rs.1.5 billion, reciprocating with a steady growth of profit.

Among the other leading profit centers are gold sales, real estate, trade finance and sale of motor vehicles. ETI has been growing consistently and two new pawning centres will be opened during the current financial year while EAP Pawning also launched “Foreign Exchange purchasing” and “Safe Storage of Jewellery”.

‘The major refurbishing programme commenced four years ago including the Head Office and all of ETI’s pawning centers, has proved to be a profitable investment with enhanced returns due to being appreciated by our increasing clientele,” de Silva said.