Aitken Spence PLC reported a 67% rise in group pre-tax profit for the September quarter while profit attributable to shareholders fell 4%, a divergence the company’s own figures explain through minority interests.
Profit attributable to shareholders came in at Rs 381.1 million, down from about Rs 397 million a year earlier, while group pre-tax profit rose to Rs 1.07 billion, the Daily Mirror reported, citing interim results filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange. Earnings per share eased to 94 cents from 98 cents.
The quarter
Group revenue rose 6% to Rs 22.76 billion in the second quarter of FY2026/27. Beneath that, the trading performance weakened:
- Operating profit fell 32% to Rs 851.9 million, on higher staff costs and indirect operating expenses.
- The group booked a net charge of Rs 386.5 million under other operating income, against income of Rs 21.2 million a year earlier — a swing of more than Rs 400 million.
- Net finance costs rose 29% to Rs 1.43 billion.
What carried the result was not the group’s own trading. Its share of profit from equity-accounted investees more than tripled, to Rs 1.65 billion from Rs 488.5 million — more than covering both the fall in operating profit and the rise in finance costs.
Why the two headline numbers point different ways
Group profit after tax climbed to Rs 340.9 million from Rs 16.1 million. That the attributable figure fell while the group figure rose more than twentyfold is accounted for by minority interests: losses attributable to non-controlling interests narrowed to Rs 40.2 million from Rs 381 million.
In the prior year, in other words, loss-making minority stakes were subtracting heavily from group profit, flattering the share left to Aitken Spence’s own shareholders. With those losses largely gone, the group number improved sharply while the shareholders’ slice did not.
Six months
For the half-year to September, group revenue rose 2.6% to Rs 41.72 billion and pre-tax profit 71.4% to Rs 2.82 billion. Profit attributable to shareholders nearly doubled, to Rs 1.83 billion from Rs 930.8 million, lifting half-year earnings per share to Rs 4.51 from Rs 2.29.
Maritime and freight logistics was the largest contributor, with pre-tax profit up 54% to Rs 3.28 billion on higher volumes, improved freight rates and increased throughput at overseas ports. Services pre-tax profit rose to Rs 1.50 billion from Rs 535.9 million, helped by the group’s Port City business process outsourcing venture and a gain on the sale of an investment property.
Those two segments alone report more pre-tax profit than the group as a whole for the half-year — Rs 4.78 billion against Rs 2.82 billion — which implies losses elsewhere in the portfolio. The filing does not identify the offsetting segments.
Not reported
The filing gives no tourism or power-generation segment figures, no commentary from the chairperson, Stasshani Jayawardena, beyond her identification, no balance-sheet or gearing detail, and no outlook statement. It does not say whether a dividend was declared.
On sourcing: this report rests on a single verified source, carrying the Daily Mirror’s DM Editorial byline. Interim results are filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange by the company itself, so the underlying figures are the company’s own disclosures rather than independent reporting. A sweep of the EconomyNext and Hiru News business rails found no other verified newsroom carrying this result at the time of writing.
