Ceylon Glass Company turnover grows 22%

Ceylon Glass Company Limited (CGC) Chairman Vijay Shah in the annual Report of the financial year ended March 31, 2006 said the financial year 2005-2006 was a challenging year for the company. During the year under review, the company achieved an increase of 22% in turnover. The company has also made inroads in exploring the export market with much confidence and initiative.

Though exports have grown almost five-fold as against the previous year, the full potential of export demand could not be exploited due to capacity constraints. The introduction of new technology and the capacity enhancements made during February 2005 led to an increase of 7% in production quantities.

In spite of this increase the company had to import 1050 MT of glass or a Trading Sales of Rs. 34, million at negligible margins to satisfy local customers and retain customer loyalty. The exceptional achievement in sales, unfortunately, is not reflected in the operational profit improvement due to unprecedented high fuel costs that took place during the year. The cost per ton of glass increased by almost 17% primarily due to the fuel hike also adversely impacted the cost of other inputs like raw material and packaging material.

The Company achieved a Profit before Tax of Rs. 273 million in the financial year 2006 as against Rs. 339 million in the financial year 2005, a drop of 19%.

The Directors had recommended an interim dividend of 12% in February 2006 and now propose a final dividend of 3% thus making an aggregate of 15%, he said. The 51st Annual general Meeting of the Company will be held on July 18 at 11.00 a. m. at the Mount Lavinia Hotel.