PGP Glass reports modest top & bottom-line performance but poised for growth

PGP Glass Ceylon PLC reported some modest top and bottom-line performance in the three months ended in March 2024.The top-line saw rising in the double digits reflecting pick up in the industrial activity which was also repeatedly reinforced by the economic readings in the first quarter.
The sole glass container manufacturer in Sri Lanka reported revenues of Rs. 5.52 billion for the January – March period, the company’s fourth fiscal quarter, up 2.71 percent from the same period a year ago.

But the sales grew by a robust 22.37 percent from the previous quarter ended in December 2023 in a sign that the company is seeing increasing orders from manufacturers of various products which need glass bottles to fill their produce.
The company produces glass containers for multiple industries including food, liquor, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and soft drinks and has an expansive international business through exports.

Data isn’t sufficient to see how it fared between exports and domestic sales.
The company saw its cost of sales too rising by a similar level to that of its revenues to Rs.3.94 billion.
The gross profit was recorded at Rs.1.59 billion for the three months, up 2.77 percent.
Gross margin was at 28.73 percent, about the same level to that of the December quarter but slightly less than 32.02 percent in December 2023.
The company also reported an operating profit of Rs.1.16 billion, up 17.03 percent from a year ago.

It reported earnings of Rs.905.86 million or 90 cents a share compared to 93 cents a share reported in the same period last year as the profit remained nearly flat.
PGP Glass Ceylon is poised to benefit from the ongoing recovery in the country’s manufacturing sector and also the consumer demand after the Central Bank vanquished inflation about six months ago.
The lower interest rates also should support the company’s top and bottom-lines as people could now afford to borrow at cheap rates to both consume and invest.
As of March 31, 2024 the parent PGP Glass Private Limited had 78.65 percent stake in the company followed by the Employees Provident Fund with 9.51 percent stake.