Overview
Agarapatana Plantations PLC (AGPL) is a high-grown tea producer operating 20 estates with in-house factories and small hydropower. After a strong FY2025, the March 2026 quarter slipped into a small loss on sharply weaker manufacturing margin; the upcoming filing will indicate whether that was a blip.
Price performance
Over the last year the share fell 16.1% against the ASPI’s 9.5% rise; over three months it fell 13.4% versus the index’s 7.1% drop. It closed at LKR 16.00 as at 2026-08-07, about 22% up from its 52-week low. Volatility and volume have been running above the stock’s own recent norm.
Valuation
On headline multiples AGPL is not especially cheap on book: P/B is 1.96, placing it around the 88th percentile of plantations peers. ROE was 18.9% in FY2025, which helps explain the premium. The dividend yield is 3.1%; the payout track shows LKR 1.50 in FY2025 and LKR 0.50 so far for FY2026. The P/E sits around the sector median.
News and sentiment
Direct coverage is thin: 0 material articles in the past 90 days. There has been no fresh company news alongside a 13.4% three-month share decline. The last confirmed action was a first interim dividend of LKR 0.50 ex on 2026-01-12.
Financials
Latest quarter (to 2026-03-31): revenue was LKR 1.91 billion. Gross margin fell to 2.1% from 10.4% a year earlier, and net margin was -0.3% versus -8.3% in the same quarter last year. Operating margin was not disclosed for the quarter (10.2% a year earlier).
Risks
The lead risk is margin compression translating into thin cash generation: FY2025 cash conversion was 0.96, just below 1, and the latest quarterly gross margin was 2.1% (worst of 12), with a small loss. Liquidity is adequate but tight, with a current ratio of 1.32. Leverage is moderate at 21.3% of owners’ equity, while interest cover improved to 8.38x. Sectorally, plantation exporters face labour constraints flagged by industry bodies; market-wide rates have eased recently, which would help servicing costs.
Outlook
As at 7 Aug 2026, the next results for the quarter to 2026-06-30 were due, with filings typically arriving by 26 Oct 2026. That print will indicate whether March’s margin slump persisted. The operating backdrop features easing local rates and ongoing labour tightness across agri exporters.