Aitken Spence Q3 Profits up by 14 percent
Aitken Spence PLC released its third quarter financial results to the
Colombo Stock Exchange showing a 10 percent rise in pre-tax profits to
Rs 914 mn and a 14.3 percent rise in profit attributable to shareholders
to Rs 541 mn over the same quarter last year.
Aitken Spence is among Sri Lanka’s leading and most respected
corporate entities with interests in hotels, services, logistic
solutions and strategic investments in South Asia, the Middle East and
Africa.
J.M.S.Brito |
The diversified conglomerate reported Rs 2.14 bn as pre-tax profit
and Rs 1.3 bn as profit attributable to shareholders for the nine months
ended December 31; an increase of 3.3 percent and 3.1 percent
respectively over the previous year.
Performance from the Group’s resorts in the Maldives which operate as
Adaaran Resorts, showed signs of recovery despite being lower than last
year. With seven resorts under its portfolio, Aitken Spence is the
largest international resort operator in islands, which was sharply
affected by a slump in tourist arrivals due to the global recession.
During the quarter under review, Adaaran Prestige Resorts was
acclaimed as “The Indian Ocean’s Leading Water Villa Group” and Adaaran
Prestige Water Villas at Meedhupparu won the award for “The Maldives
Leading Water Villas” for the second consecutive year at the World
Travel Awards ceremony held in London during the 2009 World Travel
Market.
“Increased tourist arrivals due to the end of the armed conflict in
the country has improved income from our resorts in Sri Lanka during the
quarter. An outstanding rebound in tourism is imminent for the next
season. With a focused and robust destination marketing strategy that
builds a strong country brand internationally, we believe that the
private sector is capable of making tourism a key engine of sustainable
economic growth for Sri Lanka”, said Aitken Spence PLC Deputy Chairman
and Managing Director J.M.S.Brito. Aitken Spence is the largest resort
operator in Sri Lanka with nine award-winning properties across the
island.
The company has announced plans to expand its hospitality portfolio
in the island with proposed resorts in the South, the North and the
East.
Aitken Spence opened the newly-rebranded Heritance Tea Factory in
December, which joins Heritance Kandalama, Heritance Ahungalla and
Heritance Madurai under the up-market Heritance Hotels and Resorts
umbrella. The company also will be managing the 130-roomed Ramada Hotel
and Convention Centre in New Delhi, which is due to open in March this
year. Aitken Spence currently operates five hotels and resorts in India,
including the eco-friendly Barefoot at Havelock in the Andaman Islands.
During the quarter, the Group saw a lower contribution from the
Aviation sector, which comprises the Singapore Airlines and Kingfisher
Airlines agencies, as a result of reduced frequency of flights and
prices. |