Singer (Sri Lanka) Limited has boosted profitability on the back of increased turnover during the first 9 months of the current financial year despite sharply higher interest and taxation, provisional unaudited results now with shareholders revealed.

The company which is a strong player in consumer durables, having branched out from its traditional sewing machines, boosted turnover 16.5% during the period under review to Rs. 3.1 billion.

Although interest was up 15% to Rs. 160 million and taxation up 31% to Rs. 64.1 million, a higher profit share of Rs. 16.1 million from associate companies helped catch up the lag. The operating profit was up 16.8% to Rs. 359.9 million and the after-tax profit up 15.6% to Rs. 152.8 million during the 9 months under review.

Singer which has an issued share capital of Rs. 320.5 million had an earnings per share during the period under review of Rs. 4.77, up from Rs. 4.12 a year earlier.

The company which has a good dividend and bonus issue track record had net assets per share of Rs. 33.14 during the 9 months under review, down from Rs. 36.71 a year earlier. This is attributable to the issued share capital being increased by a bonus issue from Rs. 267.1 million to the current Rs. 320.5 million.