ONE of the heavyweights on the South Pacific Stock Exchange continues to record a steady growth with revenues increasing 6 per cent to $180.4 million and net profit after tax increasing 10 per cent to $20.2m this year.
Vision Investments Ltd’s Group Financial Statements include the full 12 months trading results of the Company’s fully owned subsidiary in Papua New Guinea – Vision Homecentres Ltd.
Company chairperson Dilip Khatri said the revenue growth was particularly noteworthy, considering that in the previous year, performance was boosted by an event led one-off increase in consumer demand across the retail sector.
“I am also pleased to report the revenue and after tax profit for the financial year exceeded by a large margin, the corresponding prospective financials that were disclosed in the Information Memorandum issued in connection with the listing of the company on the South Pacific Stock Exchange in 2016.
“All business units of the Company, namely Courts, Vision Motors and Mahogany Industries (Fiji) performed strongly in the year,” he said.
Mr Khatri said cash flow was well managed with prudent investment in working capital to support the growth in sales.
He said the subsidiary – Vision Homecentres Ltd operating as “Home & More” in Papua New Guinea incurred a material loss, which was included in the Group Financial Statements.
“This company operates a retail store in Waigani. The store commenced trading in February 2017 and after a slow start, is showing a steady increase in sales. There were impediments in the store location which seriously hampered the retail operations. These have since been satisfactorily addressed and the impediments removed.”
Mr Khatri said in the short term, the PNG economy was facing structural challenges resulting in muted consumer demand and market conditions.
“The considered view is that in the medium term the PNG economy will rebound, leading to strong consumer demand. When this eventually happens, ‘Home & More’ will then be well placed to take advantage of the rebounding economy. We believe the losses from this operation have bottomed out and our focus now is to grow sales and market share and improve profitability.”
