16th Jun 2016 08:41
LONDON (Alliance News) - SKIL Ports & Logistics Ltd on Thursday reported a fall in pretax profit in 2015, on higher professional fees, employee costs and directors' fees, and said its cash resources and headroom in its banking facilities are expected to have almost halved since the end of December.
SKIL is a holding company which develops, owns and operates port and logistics facilities, and is in the process of developing one port in Navi, Mumbai.
SKIL said work began on the site in Mumbai in February 2015 but was suspended until October due to unspecified local issues which saw the contractor workforce walk off the site. Since October, however, work has been uninterrupted, SKIL said, noting that it is on track to complete the reclamation of 30 hectares by the end of June, with dredging progressing as schedules and ground improvement works commenced.
SKIL said "cash burn related to the development of the site has dramatically increased" and at December 31, SKIL had cash resources of GBP38.5 million and headroom on its banking facilities of around GBP32.0 million. SKIL said it expects this to fall to around GBP18.0 million in cash resources and GBP15.0 million of headroom on its banking facilities by the end of June.
The company generated no revenue for the year, the same as the year earlier, as none of its facilities are yet operational, though SKIL said it expects its Mumbai facility to become revenue generating by the end of 2016 or the start of 2017.
However, SKIL generates financial income, on interest on demand deposits, though this fell to GBP2.4 million for 2015 from GBP2.7 million the year earlier.
Administrative expenses also grew to GBP2.2 million from GBP1.9 million, largely on employee costs, directors' fees and professional fees, which, in aggregate, came in at GBP1.3 million, compared to GBP873,000 in 2014, due to the ramp up in work at the site.
"We have made good progress in developing a modern port facility in Mumbai, and we have also initiated discussions with operators and end users. Modern ports and logistics facilities are essential engines needed for a country's growth. I have no doubt that we will meet future challenges and be an integral part of the growth of this remarkable region through the development of the Karanja facility," said Executive Chairman Nikhil Gandhi.
Shares in SKIL were down 8.6% at 49.80 pence on Thursday.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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