After what looked like a steady decline in sales and profits till end of last year, Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) posted its highest revenue in recent times abd a 46% net margin. Net revenue grew 17% from same period last year and 3% from previous quarter while posting an EPS of 16.12/-
CTC said in the earnings release that domestic volumes increased by 10% which the management attributed to the “higher level of consumer confidence and an increase in disposable income”. As usual, CTC emphasized on the contribution to the Government as taxes, which was Rs. 43.7b during the first half o this year, a 18% increase over the same quarter last year. CTC also complied with the 80% graphical warning law in March this year.
Gross margin increased by 90bps while savings in operating expenses from last quarter contributed to the better bottom line.
CTC also declared a 24/- per share 2nd interim dividend after declaring a meager 3.45/- 1st interim dividend last quarter.
CTC closed trading at 915.50/- [+15.50] and trades at 17.9x earnings (TTM) with a 6.1% DY.
Source: Report uploaded on cse.lk
