Sri Lanka’s Watawala Plantations records PAT of Rs.554Mn

Nov 09, 2018 (LBO) - Watawala Plantations PLC reported a profit after tax (PAT) of 554 million rupees for the six months ended 30 September 2018. The Company achieved a PAT of 358 million rupees in the second quarter (Q2) compared to the first quarter (Q1) PAT of 196 million rupees. The increase in the production volumes in Q2 propelled the profitability, the company said issuing a statement. Global palm oil prices declined in response to the supply side factors, which affected the local price. However, this was negated owing to the upward revisions of duty on crude palm oil imported to the country.

Watawala Dairy Limited (WDL) in the second quarter (Q2) showed signs of recovery versus Q1 as the milk volume, prices and revenue increased significantly, resulting in a reduction in operating losses. Loss reported for Q2 was Rs. 25 million compared to a loss of 45 million rupees reported in Q1, thereby, a total loss of 70 million rupees was reported for the six months ended 30 September 2018.

These start-up losses, now within the budgeted parameters, are regularly monitored and controlled. Increased milk production from the cattle coming to the second lactation in the herd and the first lactation of 246 cattle imported from Australia in May 2018 mainly accounted for the volume increase”, said Watawala Plantations PLC, Managing Director, Vish Govindasamy. “The volatility in the global oil palm market will remain and the strengthening of the US Dollar against Lankan Rupee will have mixed consequences for the industry.”