During a turbulent financial year that was affected by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, Aitken Spence Group’s non-tourism sectors delivered the highest ever profit before tax of Rs. 5.01 billion for the twelve months ending 31st March 2021 compared to Rs. 4.2 billion last year and partially offsetting the impact of the Group’s Tourism portfolio which recorded its worst year ever due to the devastating impact of the pandemic.
The Group’s non-tourism sectors overcame multiple challenges including business disruptions, health and safety risks faced by the Spensonians and the overall slowing down of economic activity to record a growth in profit before tax of 55% in the 4th quarter and 18.9% in the financial year, compared to the corresponding periods in the previous year.
The Maritime and Freight Logistics sector which has operations across 5 countries contributed 51.2% of the Group’s non-tourism profit before tax by recording Rs. 2.6 billion which is a growth of 13.9% year-on- year. This is despite the overall decline in trade volumes during the year.
“During yet another challenging year, Aitken Spence has been reinventing its businesses and our priorities are focused on re-strategizing our operations and business models while strengthening resilience. With this objective, the Group embarked on a business and process transformation drive across all business segments,” commented Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Aitken Spence PLC.
“Our strategy to realign, reinvent and relaunch has been adopted very well by our motivated Spensonians proving their true grit. We are indeed confident of the capability of our team to take the Group to a brighter future in the new reality that has characterized the current business environment.”
The Strategic Investments sector was the second highest contributor towards the Group’s performance with a profit before tax of Rs. 2.1 billion which is a growth of 23.3% year-on-year.
The Services sector performance was commendable recording a profit before tax of Rs. 392 million which is a growth of 31.8% year-on-year. Overall, the Group recorded a loss before tax of Rs. 2.8 billion with the tourism sector reporting a loss of Rs. 7.8 billion for the year.
The Tourism sector was worst affected as border closures brought international tourism to a halt.
The Group led the revival of the tourism sector in Sri Lanka and significantly contributed towards the recovery through facilitation of the first of the charter flights to Sri Lanka since the reopening of the airports on 21st January 2021, from unconventional markets such as Kazakhstan.
0 comments: