ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings said it reported a loss of 803.7 million rupees in the June 2025 quarter, driven by losses in its leisure sector amid high cost of sales and tax expenses.
The group reported a tax expense of 2.39 billion rupees in the June quarter, compared to 762.3 million rupees in the same quarter last year.
John Keells Holdings report loss of 5 cents per share for June quarter.
Revenues grew 67 percent to 114.1 billion rupees, with insurance revenues of 5.4 billion rupees.
Cost of sales grew 63 percent to 93.7 billion rupees. Gross profits grew 69 percent to 21.4 billion rupees. Administrative expenses rose 55 percent to 11.2 billion rupees.
“While the Group recorded a positive PAT, the profit attributable to equity holders was impacted by the higher non-controlling interest on account of JKCG where the effective ownership of the Group is 50%,” JKH Chairman Krishan Balendra said in his message.
“The profit attributable to equity holders is negative mainly due to the higher losses incurred at WPL, the project company of City of Dreams Sri Lanka, at a negative Rs.4.19 billion [2024/25 Q1: negative Rs.2.00 billion], which was partially off-set by the profit recognition at JKCG.”
However, he said continuing with its transformative momentum, the remaining components of the Group’s flagship integrated resort, City of Dreams Sri Lanka, are scheduled to launch on August 2, 2025 and it could be a game changer in the future.
“We look forward to the operationalisation of all elements including a top-tier international standard casino, the ultra-luxury Nuwa hotel, and the premium lifestyle focussed shopping mall, which marks the realisation of South Asia’s first fully integrated luxury resort, a USD 1.2 billion investment that is poised to transform Colombo’s positioning as a regional hub for tourism, leisure, and entertainment.”
“The impact of this project on tourism and the economy is expected to be significant, mirroring the success of integrated resorts in the region – including in more developed tourism markets like Singapore.”
“The Group is confident that the culmination and convergence of all elements in the operationalising of City of Dreams Sri Lanka will unlock its full potential as a transformative development in South Asia and be a catalyst in creating tourism demand, enhancing g foreign exchange earnings for Sri Lanka and generating employment.”
He said excluding the City of Dreams Sri Lanka integrated resort, which carries substantial costs pertaining to the opening and operating of the Cinnamon Life hotel, the Leisure industry group EBITDA was Rs.830 million, compared to the negative Rs.18 million recorded in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
“The increase in profitability, excluding City of Dreams Sri Lanka, is driven by an improved performance across all the segments. The Colombo Hotels and Resorts segments recorded higher profitability driven by improved occupancies on the back of a continued improvement in tourist arrivals.”
Sri Lanka tourist arrivals for the period April to June 2025 was over 445,750, a growth of 20% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Margins of the Sri Lankan Leisure businesses recorded an increase due to the improvement in occupancies. The Maldives Resorts segment also witnessed an increase in profitability and margins driven by occupancies. (Colombo/July30/2025)
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