BPPL Holdings revenue up 19% to Rs.2.2bn

Brush manufacturer and exporter, BPPL Holdings, announced its interim unaudited financial results for the 11-month period April 2016 to February 2017. 
Consolidated revenue for the period was Rs.2.2 billion, up 19 percent over the corresponding period in the previous year. Revenue continued to grow as the company pursued its dual objectives of penetrating the household market segment both through direct sales to retailers and own branded goods sales in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Direct sales accounted for 11 percent of total sales for the period, up 30 percent year-on-year (YoY). Own branded goods also grew by 55 percent, again over the corresponding period in the previous year. Gross profit was up by 30 percent YoY to Rs.881 million due to margin expansion amid revenue growth. Gross profit margins, which improved from 37 percent to 40 percent during the 11-month period ended February 2017, continued to benefit from higher productivity, lower costs as a result of improved raw material sourcing and Sri Lankan rupee depreciation against the US dollar.   
Improved productivity and stringent cost controls also led to a 47 percent increase in operating profit to Rs.472 million compared to the same period in the previous year. Moreover, margins continued to expand to 21 percent at a profit-before-tax level due to lower interest expenses as accumulated profits were used for debt retirement. 
Profit-before-tax was Rs.453 million for the period whilst profit-after-tax attributable to the company’s shareholders was Rs.393 million, an increase of 48 percent YoY. Non-annualized EPS for the period amounted to Rs.1.28 (based on the number of shares as at February 28, 2017).
Meanwhile, BPPL Holdings moved ahead with its plans for extruding synthetic yarn by placing orders with machinery suppliers following successful trials conducted with its own hot washed recycled PET flakes and discussions with leading textile producers. The construction of a new factory in the Horana BOI industrial zone also commenced in January 2017. This yarn production facility, which involves an investment of Rs.675 million, is set to come on-stream in the January to March quarter of 2018 and contribute to revenue from April 2018.
The company is also on track to commence power generation from its own 347KW solar and 200KW biomass based power plants later this month. 
BPPL offered 30,685,000 ordinary shares priced at Rs.12 per share to the public via an initial public offering recently, which was fully subscribed on the first day. The expected date of listing is on April 4.