Corporate news

Dialog Telekom Group records Rs. 1.64b PAT in six months

Dialog Telekom PLC (DT) unveiled an overview of its financial performance for the six months ended June 30, 2008. Financial results included those for the entity Dialog Telekom PLC and for the Dialog Telekom Group derived from a consolidation of Company performance with those of its subsidiaries Dialog Broadband Networks (Pvt) Ltd (DBN) and Dialog Television (Pvt) Ltd (DTV).

Dialog Telekom PLC recorded a mobile subscriber base of 4.8 million customers as at the end of Q2, 2008, representing a 31% growth Year on Year (YoY). Revenue growth over the same period was however, relatively modest at 6%. Revenue growth was mitigated in the main due to tariff reductions and other affordability enhancement strategies adopted by the company during Q4 2007 on the backdrop of suppressed price-usage elasticity levels arising from inflation related pressures on consumer spending power.

Downstream of revenue performance, cost expansion driven in the main by general inflation (28% YoY), energy derived costs (46% YoY) and expansion of Dialog Telekom network infrastructure, with associated increases in Network related costs (49% YoY) and Depreciation (62% YoY) has resulted in negative growth of 29% at EBITDA level and a reduction in PAT by 59% on a YoY basis.

Notwithstanding medium term perturbations in the macro economic environment, Dialog has continued its aggressive investment thrust towards building infrastructure and service delivery capacity to extend its entrenched leadership in the provision of a broad range of telecommunications services.

Dialog Telekoms capacity building thrust continues to secure a major share of incremental mobile consumers, drive growth in usage levels and trigger encouraging consumer traction with respect to the new businesses of the group.

The new businesses of the Dialog Group - seeded over the past two years in expectation of slowing growth trajectories in the mobile sector in line with market penetration, competition and macro-environmental dynamics, demonstrated substantial momentum during 1H, 2008, albeit delivering dilutive PAT contributions to the group, the subsidiaries displayed aggressive subscriber and revenue growth in tandem with positive trends in EBITDA relative to the immediately preceding quarters.

Group performance derived from a consolidation of the performance of Dialog Telekom and its subsidiaries DBN and DTV displayed YoY Revenue growth of 13% and a Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs. 1.64 Bn. for the six months ended June 30, 2008.

ComBank Group post-tax profit up 5.52% to Rs. 2,118m in 1 H 2008

The Commercial Bank Group reported a pre-tax profit of Rs. 3,656.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2008, a growth of Rs. 234.8 million up 6.86 per cent over the corresponding period in 2007. The Group post-tax profit for the same period, at Rs. 2,118.2 million was up by 5.52 per cent.

The net interest income of the Group rose by Rs. 647.2 million or 11.94 per cent while other income at Rs. 1,846 million recorded an increase of Rs. 566 million, up 44.22 per cent.

“The increase in other income was primarily due to a profit of Rs. 405 million earned by the Bank on the sale of its stake in the shares of Commercial Leasing Company PLC in May 2008,” Commercial Bank’s Chief Financial Officer Nandika Buddhipala said.

The Group’s foreign exchange income rose by Rs. 253.2 million up 30.75 per cent during the first half 2008, mainly due to higher gains realised from forward foreign exchange deals done in 2008.

The Group’s tax on profit on ordinary activities published in the first half results of 2007, has been re-stated as Rs. 1,414.8 million in the comparative column of the Income Statement of 2007. This was due to the reversal of a deferred tax asset recognised on statutory general provisions made as per the new provisioning requirement of the Central Bank, which was reversed in preparing the Annual Report for 2007.

If the re-statement of the tax on profit on ordinary activities was not reflected, the profit after tax for the first half 2007 would have been Rs. 2,173.3 million, marginally higher than the post-tax profit achieved in the period under review.

Appointed Director Pan Asia Bank

Eshana de Silva, Chairman, Shermans Logistics (Pvt) Ltd., Shermans Transport (Pvt) Ltd., Esna Holdings (Pvt) Ltd., Deputy Chairman/Managing Director, Shermans International (Pvt) Ltd., and a Board Member of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) has been appointed Director Pan Asia Bank.

Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC (PABC) has been rated by FITCH Ratings at BBB - (LKA).

The Bank also recently appointed Mrs. Kimarli Fernando, a Senior Banker as the Director/Chief Executive Officer.

LB Finance posts Rs. 70m net profit in three months

Finance giant LB Finance continued its trailblazing recent-run into the second quarter of the year, completing yet another successful three months with an impressive increase in net profit to Rs.70mn, during the first quarter ending June 30, 2008.

Accentuating the Company’s ability to uphold its progressive course of growth is the Company income - Rs.419mn for the three months ending June 30, 2007, increasing by 78% to Rs.748mn for the three months ending June 30, 2008. Interest expenses have increased by 100% during the same period.

Operating profits too followed the same ascending pitch, increasing by 49% to Rs.267mn, while interest income indicates a growth of 79% - from Rs.403mn as at the end of the first quarter last year to Rs.723mn during the quarter ending June 30, 2008. Company reserves too have risen from Rs.556mn to Rs.627mn during the same period.

The company’s total deposits, Rs.7.3bn for the period ending March 31, 2008, rose to Rs.8.6bn during the first quarter ending June 2008.

“Several aspects contributed towards maintaining the growth momentum. A new cost-control mechanism and a more robust, growth-oriented work ethic were chief among them,” said Managing Director of LB Finance Sumith Adhihetty.

“The well-planned and coordinated efforts of the management, devoted to rewarding the confidence that our investors have in us, as well as, the very competitive rates of interest offered by the Company, too played a big part in the increase in customer deposits.”