Mauritius’ fisheries major Ireland Blyth Ltd (IBL) saw its pre-tax profit for this year ended June 30 dip by 9.81% to hit Rs 782.76 million, compared to the Rs 867.92 million earned a year ago.
Besides, IBL generated revenues of Rs 19.72 billion, slightly lower than Rs 19.73 billion in the corresponding period of last year, bringing revenues for the group down by 0.04%.
The financial statement also showed that the profit after tax for the period amounted to Rs 683.99 million from Rs 755.77 million on June 30, 2013, representing a drop of 9.50%.
The company, which is involved in six main sectors of the economy, namely Commerce; Engineering; Financial Services; Logistics, Aviation & Shipping; Retail; Seafood & Marine, noted that the retail segment registered a slight increase of 10.86% in its operational profit to reach Rs 83.06 million for the current financial year, while revenues rose 6.71% to Rs 5.35 billion.
However, the star performer in the company’s portfolio was Logistics, Aviation & Shipping, which received a 16.95% boost in revenues from Rs 796.65 million to Rs 931.67 million while operational profits rose 20.84% from Rs 120.09 million to Rs 145.12 million.
Also, the commerce segment’s profits were estimated at Rs 213.04 million as at the year ended June 30, 2014 while it was Rs 178.99 million in the corresponding period of 2013, representing an increase of 19.03%. Meanwhile, revenues rose a marginal 2.3% to Rs 3.00 billion.
On the other hand, the company noted that new challenges in the economic environment governing the seafood industry had a negative impact on the company’s Seafood & Marine segment but this impact was alleviated by the good performance of marine activities. However, overall segmental operating profits plunged 18.61% to Rs 456.11 million while revenues dipped 3.66% to Rs 5.95 billion.
With regards to the engineering sector, its operational profit fell by 34.14% to settle at Rs 147.12 million due to a slowdown in the construction industry, which witnessed stronger competition among the service providers. Revenue also took a plunge, falling 15.90% to Rs 2.89 billion.
The company’s diverse portfolio, coupled with strong partnerships with a number of large international companies, sound strategic choices and competent management, has ensured the growth of IBL into one of the largest groups in the private sector.
Finally, earnings per share fell to Rs 7.40 from Rs 8.08 a year earlier, with attributable earnings of Rs 528.5 million, against Rs 577.3 million a year ago.
Image (GVpedia): The fisheries major noted that new challenges in the economic environment governing the seafood industry had a negative impact on the company’s Seafood & Marine segment but this impact was alleviated by the good performance of marine activities.
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