Sri Lanka Ports Authority profits down 13.5-pct from Jan to Apr 2015

July 03, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Ports Authority profits have declined by 13.5 percent during the first four months of this year compared to same period in the previous year, 2015 mid year fiscal responsibility report said.

The Authority recorded a profit before tax of 3.2 billion rupees during the first four months of this year against the budgeted profit before tax of 4.4 billion rupees.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) recorded a profit of 3.7 billion rupees during the same period last year.

Total revenue recorded during the first four months of 2015 was 12.9 billion rupees while incurring an expense of 9.3 billion rupees as well as foreign exchange loss of 0.45 billion rupees.

By the end of 2014, total outstanding borrowings of the Authority increased up to 218 billion rupees due to the implementation of several development projects for SLPA during recent years and it has decreased to 215 billion rupees as at 30 April 2015.

SLPA has also incurred an interest cost of 1.7 billion rupees during the first four months of the year.

“East Container Terminal has commenced its operations on 27 April 2015 under the direct control of SLPA and it is expected to accommodate Latest Generation Container ships,”

“SLPA should take prompt actions for implementation of a prudent debt management system to ensure debt sustainability since it reflects a huge amount of loan outstanding balance at present.” the report said.