Sunshine Holdings profits up

Announces one into ten share sub-division; ventures into renewable energy:

Group profit before tax grew by a noteworthy 87 per cent to Rs 558 million, while profit after tax more than doubled to Rs 433.5 million on a turnover of Rs 6.9 billion, which reflected an increase of 23 per cent.

Strong prospects underpinned by solid performances at the end of the third quarter of 2009-10 by its businesses in healthcare and plantations have prompted Sunshine Holdings PLC to announce plans for a one into ten share sub division which will greatly increase share capital liquidity.

The company currently has 13,333,333 issued ordinary shares which will increase to 133,333,330 upon sub division.

The owning company of Swiss Biogenics Limited, Watawala Plantations PLC and companies in travel and packaging.

Sunshine Holdings achieved an attributable profit of Rs 252 million for the nine months ending December 31, 2009, a remarkable 90 per cent increase over the corresponding nine months of last year.

Describing these results as “impressive” Sunshine Holdings’ Chairman Rienzie T. Wijetilleke attributed the Group’s performance to a renewed focus on operational efficiencies in all group companies. Announcing plans to enter the Power sector in the fourth quarter of the year with the launch of Sunshine Power Limited, he said: “With this diversification, we hope to be a significant player in building the infrastructure of our economy.”

This will be the group’s first venture into the renewable energy sector and will generate hydropower potential of 1.6 MW in the foreseeable future.

Wijetilleke said, “that the country’s economic environment will rebound faster than the region, especially as Sri Lanka has just begun to capitalise on the peace dividend.

This opportunity allow all sectors of the economy to grow faster than expected, and this will be reflected in all our business sectors as well”, he said.

Total assets of the Group increased to Rs 6.7 billion as at December 31, 2009, a growth of 5 per cent over the preceding 12 months.

Earnings per share nearly doubled from Rs 9.96 for the first nine months of the previous year to Rs 18.90 for the period under review, while net assets per share improved 17 per cent to Rs 120.75.

The Sunshine Holdings share price achieved a high of Rs 196 during this period.

In segmental results, the healthcare sector comprising Swiss Biogenics, the largest private sector player in Sri Lanka in pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and surgical accessories, and Healthguard, a strategic venture in healthcare retailing, posted a profit after tax of Rs 165 million, a growth of 31 per cent.

“Our presence in all major sectors in healthcare products, pharmaceuticals, surgical and medical devices, diagnostics and nutraceuticals enabled us to increase our overall market share as we introduced new products in all segments,” Wijetilleke said.

The Group’s plantations company increased its post-tax profit contribution to Rs 227 million, a growth of 255 per cent on the back of improved performances from Palm Oil and retail marketing.

In the Packaging sector, the Group incurred a marginal loss attributed to the impacts of the global recession.

“We however foresee a recovery in our main customer segment — tea exporters — as their trading environment improves, and with timely investment in equipment, we should be able to improve returns in the medium term,” Wijetilleke said.

A group focused on expansion locally and internationally, Sunshine Holdings is associated with Tata Tea Ltd, and its subsidiary the Tetley Group, and has also extended its interests into telecommunications with the acquisition of a 10 per cent stake in Tata Communications Lanka Ltd, a subsidiary of Tata Communications Ltd, India (TCL), which is owned by the Tata Group.