Access Engineering PLC reported a group net profit attributable to equity holders of Rs 4.75 billion for the quarter ended 30 September 2026, up 200 per cent from Rs 1.58 billion a year earlier, EconomyNext reported from the company’s interim accounts.

Group revenue for the quarter rose 36 per cent to Rs 20.39 billion from Rs 14.94 billion. EconomyNext attributes the increase to condominium property handovers, stronger automobile sales and steady execution in the civil engineering business. Basic earnings per share rose to Rs 4.08 from Rs 1.58.

The property handovers show up on the balance sheet as well: inventories fell Rs 7.69 billion since March to Rs 35.71 billion, consistent with completed apartments being transferred to buyers rather than held.

Cost of sales rose more slowly than revenue, at 27 per cent to Rs 14.34 billion. That lifted gross profit 64 per cent to Rs 6.05 billion and widened the gross margin to 29.7 per cent from 24.7 per cent. Operating profit also rose 64 per cent, to Rs 5.16 billion, after administrative expenses rose 75 per cent to Rs 1.14 billion.

Two items that moved the bottom line

Two non-operating items account for much of the gap between the 64 per cent rise in operating profit and the 200 per cent rise in attributable profit.

Finance costs more than doubled, rising 107 per cent to Rs 1.18 billion on group borrowings of Rs 43.74 billion. Working against that, income tax swung to a net reversal of Rs 186.6 million, from an expense of Rs 804.1 million a year earlier. EconomyNext reports the reversal was driven by deferred tax assets recognised on unrelieved losses arising from a 100 per cent enhanced capital allowance claimed by Access Medical Tracers (Private) Limited, a 60 per cent-owned radiopharmaceutical subsidiary.

Pre-tax profit rose 56 per cent to Rs 4.05 billion. Total profit for the period rose 136 per cent to Rs 4.24 billion, with the non-controlling interest share falling 24 per cent to Rs 164.9 million after last year’s buyout of minority shareholders in Harbour Village (Private) Limited.

Disclosures in the notes

The notes to the accounts flag an expected Rs 1.45 billion recovery from the terminated South Asia Commercial and Logistics Hub project, a Rs 225 million legal settlement reached after the quarter closed and already provided for, and a Supreme Court appeal concerning a 2011/12 PAYE tax ruling. The group also carries USD 16.6 million in corporate guarantees.

Group assets stood at Rs 132.4 billion at 30 September, with net asset value per share of Rs 46.70. The Employees’ Provident Fund raised its holding to 5.69 per cent. The shares closed the quarter at Rs 80.00 and were trading around Rs 85.80 at the time of EconomyNext’s report.

Sourcing

This account rests on a single verified newsroom. Searches of the Daily Mirror business rail, Lanka Business Online and Hiru’s business desk found no other verified Sri Lankan newsroom carrying the result. The underlying document is Access Engineering’s own interim condensed financial statements filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange; the figures above are EconomyNext’s reading of that filing, not this desk’s own reading of the accounts.

Not reported: the company offers no outlook statement in the filings as summarised, no breakdown of revenue between the civil engineering, automobile and property segments, and no indication of how many condominium units were handed over in the quarter or how many remain in inventory.