Odel December net driven by higher consumer spending

Leading life-style retailer Odel PLC posted a net profit of Rs.153.06 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, up from Rs.106.21 million net profit reported for the same period of the previous year.

Earnings per share increased to 56 cents from 39 cents. The sales grew to Rs.1.81 billion from Rs.1.41 billion year-on-year (yoy), while cost of sales increased to Rs.962.56 million from Rs.845.41 million yoy.

Higher consumer spending, holiday shopping and increased tourist spending at the flagship store seemed to have contributed to the strong performance. Distribution expenses jumped up to Rs.131.75 million from Rs.70.67 million yoy despite low fuel costs  and the closure of several smaller outlets, while administrative expenses increased to Rs.495.24 million from Rs.375.08 million yoy.

 Finance costs also increased to Rs.3.10 million from Rs.22.09 million. Income tax expenses rose to Rs.46.87 million from Rs.16.01 million.

The asset base as at December 31 increased to Rs.8.28 billion from Rs.7.59 billion as at March 31, while equity rose up to Rs.5.5 billion from Rs.5.28 billion through retained earnings. 

During the same period, total interest bearing borrowings increased to Rs.1.66 billion from Rs.1.44 billion.

The 9 months ending in December saw net profits increase to Rs.244.53 million from Rs.143.98 million yoy, while revenue rose to Rs.4.81 billion from Rs.3.74 billion yoy and cost of sales increased to Rs.2.65 billion from Rs.2.23 billion yoy.

Distribution, administrative and finance costs recorded significant increases for the 9 months compared to the corresponding period in 2014 as well.

Odel’s largest shareholder is Ashok Pathirage’s Softlogic group, which has a 93.7 percent stake in the retail giant—below the 10 percent public float requirement for a secondary board company.
The public free float rules are scheduled to come into effect from December 31, 2016.