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| Sunday, 30 June 2002 |
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Hapugastanne Plantations shareholders call for dividends by Elmo Leonard Shareholders of Hapugastanne Plantations Ltd. (HPL) were vociferous at the ninth annual general meeting of the company that they saw no probability of receiving a dividend in the years ahead. They said they could not remember the last time the company had paid a dividend. Although HPL presented its annual report for the year ended December 2001, no dividend was declared. "In contrast, healthy annual dividends were paid to shareholders of Madulsima and Balangoda Plantations, which also deal with tea and rubber estates, as did the James Finlay-managed Hapugastanne and Udapussellawa Plantations," shareholder M. Sivaguru said. The Madulsima and Balangoda plantations companies are managed by the Stassen Group. HPL recorded a net loss of Rs 1.9 million for the year ended 2001, compared to a net profit of Rs 43.9 million for 2000. HPL's carried forward loss as at end-December 2001 stood at Rs 122 million. Shareholder D. Wijesinghe argued that the plantations sector has high potential. HPL's poor performance for the year was due to the non-utilising of the high-value plantation resources, he said. HPL had, during the year under review, invested Rs 131 million in replanting, filling, maintenance of immature plantations and development of factories. The company had also spent Rs 28 million to improve worker welfare and housing development. Wijesinghe argued that the company had spent too much on welfare during the year under review, without spreading out the expenses. He emphasised that the company had built 2,864 latrines in 2000. Answering, Chairman Dickie Juriansz said that HPL's social development programmes had been carried out with the assistance of the Plantation Housing and Social Welfare Trust, the Plantation Reform Project and the National Housing Development Authority. He said that plantations companies were compelled to make further concessions to the agreed wage package in March 2001, notwithstanding the collective agreement in force; it had impacted on the year's profit to the extent of Rs 53 million. Juriansz said the tea bushes planted on Hapugastota Tea Estate in 1994 had yielded over 8000 kilos per hectare, while most other young tea fields had averaged yields of over 3000 kilos per hectare. The companies, Madampe and Depedenne estates in the Rakwana Group had recorded yields of 1089 kilograms and 1015 kilograms per hectare respectively, being the "highest yield on record". HPL's Bibile estate rubber plantings in 1986 and 1989 had yielded 2700 and 2800 kgs per hectare respectively during 2001, which are the highest yields recorded in Sri Lanka, according to the annual report. |
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