Sri Lanka Balangoda Plantations profit, management fee up sharply

Feb 21, 2011 (LBO) - High commodity prices helped Sri Lanka's Balangoda Plantations managed by the Stassen group turn a profit in the December 2010 quarter with management fees exceeding profits, its accounts showed.







The firm made a December 2010 quarter net profit of 35 million rupees against a loss 105 million rupees the year before, according to a stock exchange filing.

The accounts showed Balangoda Plantations' management fee shot up 167 percent to 39 million rupees in the December quarter.

It had made a loss of a million rupees in the September 2010 quarter.

Earnings per share for the December 2010 quarter were 1.46 rupees compared with a loss of 4.

43 rupees the previous year. December quarter sales rose 16 percent to 713 million rupees.

Net profit for the 2010 financial year at Balangoda Plantations shot up 151 percent to 205 million rupees from the previous year with EPS rising to 8.66 rupees from 3.45 rupees.

Annual sales rose 11.5 percent to 2.8 billion rupees.

A segmental analysis of the performance showed profits from its tea plantations, its main business, fell in 2010 while profits from rubber, whose prices have soared, rose sharply.

Balangoda Plantations has two clusters