Piramal Glass 1Q earnings hit by production line shut down

Sri Lanka’s only glass bottle maker Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC saw its June quarter (1Q20) earnings halving as the firm had to shut down couple of its production lines for plant upgrade to expand capacity.

The company reported earnings of 2 cents a share or Rs.20.9 million for the quarter under review compared to earnings of 5 cents a share or Rs.46.9 million reported for the same period last year. 

The revenue for the period fell to Rs.1.58 billion from Rs.1.64 billion from a year ago. The company said, domestic sales rose 17 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.1.19 billion while export sales fell to Rs.392 million from Rs.633 million a year ago. 

“The production of the 1st quarter was negatively impacted, as two production lines had to be shut down for a certain period to facilitate the installation of the new production line,” Piramal Glass Ceylon said in an earnings release.
The company said the new line has been installed mainly targeting the developed part of the world and has the flexibility of producing bottles of varied shapes and designs. 

“The total investment for this project is approximately Rs.1 billion. This investment will facilitate the company to utilise its installed capacity to maximum,” the earnings release noted.
The company further said with the installation of the new production line, it would see its highest ever production during this financial year.

Meanwhile, the company said even with limited export volumes, it was able to launch several new products.

“A blue colour water bottle and a liquor bottle were developed for the Australian market and the initial shipment took place during the quarter.”

Piramal Glass Ceylon is confident that with the enhanced infrastructure the company would be able to enter niche market segments with improved realizations and better margins. 
Presently, the company is exporting to USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, India, Pakistan, Myanmar and several other markets.  

Piramal Glass Private Limited holds 56.45 percent stake in Piramal Glass Ceylon as the controlling shareholder. Employee’s Provident Fund has 9.51 percent stake in the company being the second largest shareholder.