Blue chip Aitken Spence PLC saw its net profit for the December quarter (3Q15) declining 19.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.870 million, amid a fall at the top line level. The earnings per share deteriorated to Rs.2.14 from Rs.2.16. The firm's revenue during the quarter fell to Rs.9 billion from Rs.10.5 billion in the same quarter of the previous year. A drastic cut in expenses on raw material and other consumables used for operations,
 
The company has been able to maintain its operational profits at Rs.1.63 billion, slightly down from Rs.1.68 The other income was at Rs.102.2 million, up from Rs.29.1 million, largely as a result of insurance claims originating from a fire that destroyed the few water villas the company owned in the Maldives. The net finance expenses also declined to Rs.84.3 million from Rs.100 million. "Although we had a challenging third quarter, we were able to record a steady

Performance for the year so far," Aitken Spence Deputy Chairman J.M.S. Brito said. "With the new administration in Sri Lanka, we see a significant boost to business confidence. We are confident that the 100-day plan, which has received bipartisan support, will strengthen good governance, which augers well for much-needed healthy foreign investment to the country," he added. Meanwhile, for the nine months ended December 31,2014, the group's net profit also

Fell to Rs.2.19 billion from Rs.2.3 billion. The blue chip's tourism operations performed modestly during the nine months, reporting an after-tax profit of Rs.2.08 billion, up from Rs.1.99 billion in the same period of the previous year. The segment's revenue rose about Rs.700 million YoY. The maritime and logistics operations saw its after-tax profit falling slightly to Rs.416 million from Rs.441.9 million. The after-tax profit of strategic investments of the group was Rs.598.2 million against
 
Rs.506.3 million in the previous year, with the revenue surging to Rs.11.2 billion from Rs.10.3 The service sector saw its post-tax profit declining to Rs.86.5 million from Rs.138.8 million, despite the segment's revenue growing to Rs.801.6 from Rs.723.1 million. Business magnate Harry Jayawardena controlled Melstacorp holds 41.23 percent of Aitken Spence, while Rubicond Enterprises, another firm related to Jayawardena, holds 16.25 percent.