PG has excellent first half

PG Industries had an excellent first half ending September with sales and net profit exceeding that for the full year ending March even in inflation adjusted terms.

Sales totalled $6.6 billion up from $2.5 billion during the same period in 2001 and $6.2 billion for the full year ending March.

Local sales shot up from $1.9 billion to $5.2 billion while exports more than doubled from $584 million to $1.4 billion.

Operating profit increased from $514 million to $1.6 billion with net profit increasing three-fold from $397 million to $1.2 billion.

Sales dropped marginally from $14.3 billion for the year ending March to $8.4 billion in inflation-adjusted terms but net profit rose from $574 million to $739 million, though this was down from $1.4 billion for the six months to September 2001.

The bulk of the sales were from the trading division.

It had a turnover of $4.3 billion and operating income of $714 million.

Margins improved from 14 percent to 17 percent.

The Glass division had a turnover of $1.5 billion, an increase of 202 percent compared to the previous year.

Margins improved from 32 percent to 34 percent. Exports accounted for 70 percent of the volume.

The division, however, faced stiff competition from an influx of cheaper and “lower quality” imports.

The Board Manufacturing division saw its turnover increase from $434 million to $776 million.

Operating income rose by 151 percent to $342 million while margins improved from 31 percent to 44 percent.

The company says the performance of this division showed its underlying strength despite high expenditure on repairs and maintenance. It also said though the economic climate appeared set to deteriorate, the need to invest in “brick and mortar” would remain as other avenues of profitable investment continued to diminish.

The company was therefore going to continue to pursue growth strategies which included the development and nurturing of project work, growth of individual developers and further informal sector initiatives.

It was also going to embark on an aggressive export drive into profitable markets in the region.

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