A change in the fair value of investment property to Rs.581.2 million, up 51% from Rs.383.7 million a year earlier, has seen John Keells PLC boosting first quarter profit this year 24% to Rs.673.3 million despite a 15% drop in revenue to Rs.239.9 million.
John Keells is the produce and share broking firm from which the JKH conglomerate grew and is the owner of the group’s headquarters building at Glennie Street, Colombo 2.
Both profits from produce and share broking were down during the first quarter though real estate earnings grew, the financials revealed.
Produce broking earned Rs.189.6 million pre-tax, down from Rs.214. million a year earlier while share broking earnings at Rs.171.4 million pre-tax in the quarter was down sharply from Rs.32 million during the comparative period the previous year.
The real estate segment contributed Rs.662.4 million pre-tax, up from Rs.477.4 million a year earlier.
Despite cost of sales declining 27% to Rs.54.8 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2012, the group’s gross profit was down 10% to Rs.185.1 million according to a provisional financial statement now with shareholders.
The company had seen administrative expenses up 13% to Rs.45.4 million, distribution expenses up 201% to Rs.23.9 million and finance expenses up 156% to Rs.14.6 million during the quarter under review.
The share of associate company profits was down sharply by 80% to Rs.6.7 million, the figures revealed, but income tax too was down 27% to Rs.30.1 million.
The earnings per share during the first quarter at Rs.10.91 was up from Rs.8.70 a year earlier and net assets per share too were up to Rs.42.08 from Rs.30.46.
John Keells has a stated capital of Rs.152 million divided into 60.8 million shares and a revenue reserve of Rs.2.1 billion. Total assets ran at Rs.2.77 billion while liabilities stood at Rs.509.52 million.
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