The group reported earnings of 9.53 rupees for the quarter. For the year to March 2012, the group reported earnings of 19.94 rupees on total profits of 5.9 billion rupees, down 26 percent from a year earlier.

Last year's profits were boosted by a 4.5 billion rupee of investment and other income against 1.4 billion rupees this year.

In the March quarter the group said revenues grew 15 percent to 7.1 billion rupees, cost of sales grew at a faster 24 percent to 4.3 billion rupees and gross profits grew just 3 percent to 2.7 billion rupees.

At the core alcohol company, revenues grew 13 percent to 4.0 billion rupees, cost of sales grew 19 percent to 2.3 billion rupees and gross profit grew 6 percent to 1.6 billion rupees.

Investment and other income fell 93 percent to 289 million rupees from 4.0 billion a year earlier, but share of associate company profits rose to 1.0 billion rupees from 286 million boosting group profits.

In the full year to March, revenues from alcohol rose to 52 billion rupees from 40.9 billion and profits fell to 6.6 billion rupees from 9.4 billion rupees.

Plantations revenues fell to 2.6 billion rupees from 2.7 billion and profits fell to 27 million rupees from 220 million rupees.

Telecom revenues fell to 4.3 billion rupees from 4.7 billion rupees and profits fell to 94 million rupees from 113 million rupees.

The firm told shareholders that state officials were occupying Pelwatte Sugar Industries Plc, whose land was named in an expropriation law targeting firms which were privatized within the last 20 years.

But Pelwatte had been a listed company from the early 1980s and the land was leased to the firm in 1985.

"At this moment we are unable to comment further on the implications on the ruling as well wait instruction by the Secretary to the Treasury," the firm told shareholders in its interim accounts.