Australian solar panels manufacturer will in CSE?

The Sydney-based Australian solar panels manufacturer, Energy Puzzle Group will invest US$ 190 million to set up a state-of-the-art factory in Sri Lanka to manufacture solar panels.

Sri Lanka's investment promotion agency, the Board of Investment (BoI) said the Energy Puzzle Group will set up its plant in the BOI's new Export Processing Zone at Mirijjawela, near Hambantota in the deep south.
Chairman of Energy Puzzle, Patrick Featherston and Chairman of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka Dr. Lakshman Jayaweera signed the agreement recently in Colombo.
Energy Puzzle will be developing their operations in Sri Lanka under several phases and in the first phase, which is covered under the agreement with the BOI, the company will manufacture solar cells and panels of up to 150 MW/year.

"However the company envisages a greater production of Solar Panels and Energy Technology in the future," the BoI said.
The company will originally employ 150 staff of which there would be a mix of Sri Lankan and some Australian managers and workers.
According to the BoI, Energy Puzzle has a vast experience in solar power projects and provides consultancy services to the governments of Australia, the USA and Sri Lanka in this form of alternative energy.

Production of solar panels will be mainly exported but some of this production will also be made available to the local market. The Company could be listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange under a new scheme which is being set up by the BoI and Stock Exchange.

-colombopage.com

SLT’s revenues climb 5.9%

During the full-year 2013, the Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) group reported LKR60.1 billion (USD456 million) consolidated net revenue, up by 5.9% compared to the previous year, driven by revenue increases at both SLT’s fixed network division and cellular subsidiary Mobitel. The group reported operational costs of LKR41.2 billion, with a ‘sustainable increase’ of 6.2% year-on-year, and recorded a 5.3% rise in EBITDA to LKR18.9 billion, attributed to ‘healthy revenue growth coupled with operating cost management’. EBITDA margin remained steady at 31.5%, while the rising EBITDA plus non-operational transactions drove a 38.2% y-o-y increase in group net profit to LKR5.4 billion. Net profit in 4Q 2013 dropped by 3.1% quarter-on-quarter to LKR1.5 billion due to the impact of taxation.

SLT which also has Mobitel, a mobile unit, said group revenues rose 7 percent in the December quarter, while operating costs fell 01 percent to 10.5 billion rupees, helping profits before depreciation to go up 31 percent to 5.0 billion rupees. Mobitel recorded gross turnover of LKR27.5 billion in 2013, up by LKR2.6 billion from the previous year, while for the fourth quarter the cellco’s revenue increased 9% y-o-y to above LKR7 billion. Mobitel added that its subscriber base crossed the five million mark.

SLT reported fixed division gross revenue of LKR36.8 billion for FY 2013, with 5.9% growth driven by broadband and IPTV uptake, while reporting 5.8% q-o-q turnover growth to LKR9.9 billion in 4Q13.