September 11, 2007

Sri Lanka's Bairaha benefits from import bans and higher chicken demand 

Better demand and the duty on imported meat have helped turn a mid-year Rs10-million (US$88,300) loss to a Rs5.5-million (US$48,560) profit by the end of the year for Sri Lanka's Bairaha group.  

Bairaha's revenues for the year ending in March 2007 rose 10.3 percent to Rs 1.25 billion, from Rs 1.13 billion while the group's total assets rose nearly 15 percent to Rs 913 million from Rs 796 million during the period.

The group attributes the improved performance to higher demand for chicken meat and day old chicks in the second quarter of the year. The shortage of poultry products in the local market in the fourth quarter, due to the import ban on breeder chicks also helped Bairaha farms.

In addition, the duty on imported meat helped thousands in the poultry industry, Yakooth Naleem, managing director of Bairaha said in the group's annual report.

Reorganization in the company's broiler farms have also increased group performance, Naleem says.

However, feed shortage continues to be a challenge to the industry as the country imports nearly 75 percent of its corn supplies.

The depreciation of the country's currency has also made imported feed more expensive, the group said.

To gain easier access to feed supplies, the company plans to grow its own corn. Bairaha has contracted to grow a total of 2,750 acres of corn in the country and expects to harvest its first corn crop by March 2008. The company hopes it would yield enough to meet the entire demand from its poultry farms.