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| Sunday, 10 August 2003 |
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SriLankan records Rs 1.3 m profit SriLankan Airlines has recorded a net profit of Rs. 1,329.20 million in what was a very difficult year (2002/03) for the aviation industry the world over. It is against this difficult environment that SriLankan achieved net profits, both at company level, and at group level (the airline and its subsidiary, SriLankan Catering Services Pvt. Ltd). The SriLankan groups net profit was Rs. 2,197.23 million. In the previous financial year (2001/02), the company's net profit amounted to Rs. 3,272.21 million, which included Rs. 7,098.61 million revenue from extraordinary items, while the groups net profit including revenue from extraordinary items amounted to Rs 3,952.23 million. Chairman Daya Pelpola states the climate of peace assisted the airline in achieving these positive results and has commended the airlines management for aptly capturing the opportunity to increase its loads and yields. The company's operating revenue for 2002/03 was Rs. 36,235.04 million, an increase of 23% over the previous years figure of Rs. 29,352.91 million. The groups operating revenue for 2002/03 was Rs. 36,896.88 million, a 24% increase over the previous years figure of Rs. 29,755.81 million. Revenue from passenger sales amounted to Rs 28,851.76 million (up 25% from the previous year) while revenue from cargo sales amounted to Rs. 4,309.67 million (up 15% from the previous year). Passenger seat factor for the year in review averaged 76.08%, an increase of 7.57% over the previous year. In the year under review SriLankan added an Airbus A320 to its fleet to provide the required capacity for its expansion regionally and services were launched to Bangalore and Bodh Gaya in India and also resumed services to Frankfurt. Passenger carriage increased to 1.81 million from 1.62 million in the previous year. The airline has in recent years shifted its focus from leisure to a product that can be sold to all segments of the market. Stringent revenue management is the strategy used to match seat availability to anticipated demand to achieve profitable growth. Furthermore, punctuality is now at an all time high of 90 % which exceeds the performance being obtained by many of the worlds leading airlines. The airlines Head of Commercial G T Jeyaseelan states that the reliability has improved. We have the confidence to sell our product at the price it deserves and people are accepting the fact that its a quality product. We are changing our focus to managing for profit. We are small enough to survive and large enough to make money. Cargo carriage increased from 46,067 tonnes in the previous year to 47,650 tonnes. In November 2002 SriLankan joined its partner Emirates to launch a Colombo/Amsterdam freighter service, which boosted cargo sales. SriLankan Cargo also made optimum use of its regional freighter which is deployed to Bangalore, Chennai, Karachi and the Maldives. Also, the airline capitalized on the pre-Gulf war boom in the air freight industry. SriLankan Catering Services Pvt. Ltd achieved a net profit of Rs. 868.03 million, an increase of 28% over the previous year. The other major contributor to revenue is Ground Handling services at the Bandaranaike International Airport which amounted to Rs. 2,239.46 million, an increase of 32%, as a result of more airlines operating services to Colombo. Chief Executive Officer Peter Hill: The next twelve months ahead will undoubtedly provide its own set of new challenges which I am confident that we will meet. Our company is now well placed to face the future with growing confidence and a vibrant work force, eager to prove to the world that SriLankan Airlines is going to be hard to beat in the years to come. |
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