Laugfs to enter education sector

By Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

Laugfs Holdings further diversifying its business in the country plans to enter the education sector.

Chairman Laugfs Holdings, W.K.H. Wegapitiya said that the the company plans to enter the education sector by setting up an institution offering higher education this year.

“We planned to enter the education sector amidst a plethora of opportunities in the sector. Our entry is timely as there is a huge demand for higher education, Wegapitiya said.With over 15 years in the LPG business Laugfs is one of the highly diversified entities in the country. While LPG is its core business, the company is into lubricants, retailing, tyre export, leisure and metal cutting gas.

Wegapitiya said that the company plans to make a substantial investment on the project that offers unmatched educational services. Laugfs has made remarkable progress in its lubricant business and the company is the fourth player with a substantial market share in the industry.

“We have a strong presence in the North and the East with over 75 dealers and a sound distribution network in both regions. We hope to increase our investment to expand the market in the North”, Wegapitiya said.

Laugfs plans to enter the leisure sector with a hotel to be set up in Bangadeniya, Chilaw this year. The company will construct a 100-room five star hotel at a cost of Rs. 850 million. Laugfs moved its head office to a more spacious building in R.A. De Mel Mawatha recently.

Laugfs Gas PLC and its subsidiaries have made Rs. 1.2 billion profits before tax for the financial year ended March 31, an increase of 107 percent over the previous year. The group, according to unaudited financial statements for the year ended March 31 released to the Colombo Stock Exchange, had posted a profit after tax of Rs. 1.0 billion which is 90 percent over the corresponding period of last year.

The company’s revenue also increased by 30 percent from Rs. 5.6 billion to Rs. 7.3 billion. The value of its assets base rose by 48 percent from Rs. 6.2 billion last year to Rs. 9.2 billion as at the end of March 31. The net assets value for the year increased from Rs. 2.8 billion to Rs. 6.3 billion.

The group’s current assets are 1.6 times over its current liabilities reflecting a very healthy liquidity and working capital position.

Chairman Laugfs Gas PLC, W.K.H. Wegapitiya said, although results were impressive, the full potential of the company is yet to be exploited. They look forward to achieve better results since fundamentals have been put in place internally which should be complemented with the conducive business environment.

However, the over Rs. 1 billion profits earned was an important landmark for a comparatively young business enterprise having faced numerous obstacles and stiff competition from its contenders in business.

Laugfs Gas PLC is on a vigorous growth path and believes that it has captured the major share of the expanding market of LP Gas in the country. Its distribution network covers the entire island including the North and East which appears to be a very promising market segment.

It ventured into the metal cutting gas industry a few months back, in collaboration with fortune five hundred, Government of India owned Bharat Petroleum Ltd. The initiative is expected to make a revolutionary change in the metal cutting industry in the country with its outstanding quality of output and its extraordinary features of safety assurance.

The performance was strengthened through the results of its subsidiary, Laugfs Eco-Sri (Pvt) Ltd, engaged in the business of vehicle emission testing on behalf of the Department of Motor Traffic.

The other two subsidiaries of the group - Laugfs Leisure Ltd and Laugfs Property Developers (Pvt) Ltd are busy with their plans to construct a beach resort in Chilaw and a property development complex at Maya Avenue.