Agalawatte Plantations June quarter net loss widens to Rs.166mn 

Agalawatte Plantations PLC (APL), on which a battle is currently being waged over ownership, saw its net loss widening to Rs.165.8 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 (2Q16) from a net loss of Rs.90 million incurred a year ago, the interim results showed.

 The group made a net loss of Rs.6.63 a share, against a loss of Rs.3.60 a share a year ago.  
APL has a higher exposure to rubber and also grows tea. In recent times the group diversified into palm oil to minimize the adverse impacts from declining rubber and tea prices. 
The group revenues almost halved to Rs.244.8 million from Rs. 428.8 million a year ago.
  On July this year Mackwoods group company, Mackwoods Plantations (Private) Limited disposed its 60.8 percent stake in APL to Browns group in a deal valued at Rs.304 million citing the sale was a timely exit from an industry which had been hit hard by falling global commodity prices.

However, since then complaints had been made to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by a certain section of Mackwoods group shareholder directors to halt the deal as they charged that the deal was carried out without proper shareholder approval. 

However, a disclosure issued later by APL said the share sale had been unanimously approved and executed by the only two shareholders of Mackwoods Plantations – one is a foreign investor from Malaysia and Mackwoods Private Limited. 

Meanwhile, for the six months ended June 30, 2016 the APL group made a loss of Rs.7.45 a share or Rs.186.4 million, narrowing its losses from Rs. 14.47 a share or Rs.361.2 million during the same period last year. 
The group made a gross profit of Rs.56.9 million from rubber during the six months from a gross loss of Rs.104.9 million a year ago while palm oil made a gross profit of Rs.33.7 million against a gross profit of Rs.58.9 million a year ago. 

Tea plantations made a gross loss of Rs.75.9 million expanding from Rs.96.2 million loss made a year earlier. 

Sri Lanka’s plantation companies are riding a tough time as the prices, demand and production volumes have come down as a result of the slump in global commodity prices, China’s economic slowdown, turmoil in key markets and adverse weather conditions.