Financials and banks lead Sept. quarter record earnings

• Diversified financial and banking sector records cumulative earnings of Rs.111.4bn 
• Except for a few such as retailing, energy, materials, etc. all others lift earnings to an all-time high 

Except a few, nearly all sectors representing the Colombo bourse helped propel the September quarter earnings to an all-time high, while the diversified financial and banking topped once again, leading the sector-wise earnings, which reached a mammoth Rs.111.4 billion, according to First Capital Research (FCR). 
Sri Lanka’s listed company earnings for the recently concluded quarter in September was the highest on record for any quarter and marked a robust 49 percent and 46 percent growths against the comparable period last year and the June 2021 quarter, the earnings data compiled and put out last week by the research house showed. 
Mirror Business a fortnight ago showed how fast the listed corporates had adjusted their business and operational landscape to the new world order brought about by the pandemic, characterised by the intermittent restrictions on mobility, outdoor and in-person activities of the people. 
A closer look at the sector-wise earnings report by FCR showed that the diversified financials sector has delivered cumulative earnings of Rs.21.2 billion in the September quarter, logging a robust 94 percent increase from the same period last year. 

 The earning also represented a 141 percent jump from the preceding quarter ended in June. 
Banking, the sector with the second highest earnings, reported cumulative Rs.19.5 billion earnings in the three months, up 48 percent and 3 percent, respectively from a year ago and a quarter ago levels.
The capital goods sector, which mostly represents firms in the construction and constriction-related materials, came in as the third highest in earnings, with Rs.18.4 billion, up 114 percent and 96 percent from a year ago and a quarter ago levels, respectively.The transportation sector made the biggest swing in earnings of Rs.12.1 billion, almost entirely driven by the stellar performance by market heavyweight Expolanka Holdings PLC, recording a 166 percent jump from a year ago and a 92 percent increase from the previous quarter.  The healthcare services sector reported earnings of Rs.2.4 billion, nearly half of which was brought in by Asiri Hospital Holdings PLC, which helped the sector to record 115 percent and 46 percent growths in earnings from a year ago and a quarter ago, respectively. 
Among the handful of sectors, which saw their earnings declined, were retail, automobile components, materials, household and personal products, commercial and professional services and energy, the latter of which was weighed down by the nearly a billion rupee loss by Laugfs Holdings PLC.