Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC is a wholly owned, locally operated brewery in Sri Lanka. The company is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange and its shares are part of the S&P Sri Lanka 20 Index. Lion Brewery produces the best-selling beer in Sri Lanka and the Maldives .
Sri Lanka Lion Beer PLC’s profit fell 91 percent to 72.5 million rupees in the June 2020 quarter on the back of a slump in tourism due to the lockdown of the Corona virus.
Lion Beer reported 91 cents a quarter on the stock exchange.
Revenue fell 45 percent to 6.4 billion rupees in the June quarter, sales expenses fell 41 percent to 5.32 billion rupees and gross profit fell 58 percent to 1.1 billion rupees.
The company reported annual revenue of 236 million rupees, expenses 432 million rupees and net financial expenses 195 million rupees, an increase from 125 million rupees last year.
“The Covid-19 epidemic and its aftermath closed the country, slowing economic activity and dominating the first quarter of the financial year,” the company told shareholders.
The government took strong and effective measures to control the spread of the virus, which has caused confusion around the world. “Sri Lanka has survived relatively from a health perspective. According to official statistics, the number of infected people is very low compared to many other countries.
“The death toll is even lower. The economic downturn has not yet been fully determined. All indications are that the rest of the fiscal year will be full of challenges. “The company continued to pay salaries during the closure period, which is why sales costs fell faster than revenue.
“The quarter that has just ended is undoubtedly the most difficult for the private sector, and the rest of the year will be challenging,” said Lion Beer. “The government has taken many steps to reduce the risk to the economy. But expectations of growth at the corporate level have been dashed.
“Under these circumstances, management will take a safe approach throughout the rest of the year, focusing primarily on retaining the underlying strength of the company’s balance sheet.”
The company says it has a strong balance sheet and has been upgraded to AAA (lka) by Fitch Ratings.
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