The ANSA McAL board gathers after the group presented its half-year financials at its head office in the Tatil building in Port-of-Spain yesterday. Front row from left: Aneal Maharaj, group financial director; Norman Sabga, group chairman and chief executive office; Anthony Sabga, chairman emeritus and Suresh Dutta, sector head-services.
Back row from left: Frances Bain-Cumberbatch, group corporate secretary, Keith Welch, general manager; David Sabga, deputy chairman; and Ray Sumairsingh, directorand sector head services. Photo: Shirley Bahadur
The ANSA McAL group of companies recorded $315 million in profit after tax in its unaudited results for the six months ended June 30, 2010, which was 2.5 per cent less than for the same period in 2009.
An interim dividend of $0.30 per share will be paid on November 12.
The six-month review of the group’s accounts was announced yesterday at the Tatil building, Maraval Road, St Clair. Chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Anthony Norman Sabga said he was satisfied with the results. “We reported fairly neutral results, which I think is quite significant.”
The slowdown in T&T’s economy did not affect the performance of the companies in the ANSA McAL group, Sabga said. “We’ve shown that we are resilient. We’ve shown that apart from certain sectors being down, other sectors are up significantly. We are very optimistic without a doubt,” Sabga said. Sabga outlined the performance of all the sectors including beverages, automotive, services and media. Regarding the beverage sector, profitability is higher than last year. “I think you are going to see a trend of slowing in the economy in the second quarter of the year, that had to do with the general election, rain and so forth. We are seeing signs of picking up after that slowing down,” Sabga said.
In manufacturing, sales were on par with 2009 and profitability was better than last year. In distribution companies, sales were “flat” and profit decreased “slightly.” “This has a lot to do with the trading environment and additional costs in the business. We are seeing a trend in the opposite direction, and are budgeting to do a little better in this sector,” he said. “We are above sales targets and we are above profit before tax in both quarters. We see the trend continuing. Things are quite good there,” Sabga said.
What’s new
A “significant” investment is planned for the future. “We’ve started the investment. It is an area where we are already involved. It’s of a competitive nature. We would not be in a position to tell you what that investment is until the third or fourth quarter. It is an investment of over $300 million in a new plant,” Sabga said. He added it would take a further 18 months to complete the plant and begin production
From The Trinidad Guardian
