Singer December performance reflects strengthening discretionary spending by consumers

Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC saw rising sales across a broader segment of its business in the December 2024 quarter which is dominated by consumer durables with the exception of information technology products, broadly reflecting that spending on consumer durables is gaining some momentum.

The market leader in white goods reported revenues of Rs.24.88 billion in the three months ended in December 2024, down 7 percent from the same period last year weighed down by the sales of IT products.

IT products did Rs.4.73 billion in sales in the three months, down sharply from the Rs.8.62 billion in the year earlier period. It wasn’t immediately clear what was behind the slump in the sales in this category of products of the company which otherwise come out stronger, specially during the year-end festive season.   

Reflecting the strength across other categories, the company saw consumer electronics doing Rs.3.48 billion in sales, up from Rs.2.94 billion a year ago.

Singer furniture saw sales of Rs.1.33 billion for the quarter, up from Rs.1.22 billion in the same period a year ago. Home appliances meanwhile did sales of Rs.8.32 billion, up from Rs.7.19 billion while sewing machines generated sales of Rs.1.02 billion from Rs.725.33 million a year ago. Group’s financial services subsidiary generated sales of Rs.3.83 billion, up from Rs.2.89 billion.

The group’s margins appeared to have been helped by some notable decline in direct costs which fell by 16.0 percent to Rs.15.90 billion, on the back of the Rupee strength and the general easing in prices in the economy. This helped the company to report a gross profit of Rs.7.95 billion, up 21 percent despite a slippage in total sales. Meanwhile, the operating profit rose by 27 percent to Rs.2.72 billion for the quarter.

The net finance cost came down by 15.0 percent to Rs. 451.24 million in line with the decline in interest rates. The company reported earnings of Rs.1.18 a share or Rs.1.38 billion for the October – December quarter compared to 89 cents a share or Rs.1.00 billion reported in the corresponding period in 2023.

Hayleys PLC and its subsidiaries in concert held 87.28 percent stake in Singer Sri Lanka while the Dammika Perera holds another 1.78 percent stake in the company as of December 31, 2024.