Overview
Raigam Wayamba Salterns produces, refines and packages sea salt for consumer and industrial markets through its salterns, refinery, automated packing operations and brands including Isi, Premium, Ruchi and PVD.
The key change is a profitable March quarter following the December loss, but the recovery was weaker than the same quarter a year earlier. Operating performance remains healthy relative to the company's history, although revenue and profit have both declined year-on-year.
Price performance
The share closed at LKR 19.40 on 2026-08-10. It gained 55.3% over one year against a 9.7% rise in the ASPI, while its three-month return was -6.8% versus -7.1% for the index.
The price sits at 39.1% of its 52-week range, below the annual high rather than near the top of its trading history. Recent volatility is running below the company's own one-year norm, and 20-day volume is also below its recent average, indicating quieter trading conditions despite the strong longer-term return.
Valuation
Valuation is close to the consumer-retail middle: the P/E is 12.54 at the 48th sector percentile, while the P/B is 1.69 at the 45th percentile. ROE was 12.4% for the audited year ended 2025-03-31, providing reasonable support for the book valuation rather than leaving the P/B unexplained.
The dividend yield is 1.3%, at the 23rd sector percentile, so income is not the main attraction. The payout has risen unevenly, from LKR 0.20 per share in FY2023 to LKR 0.15 in FY2024 and LKR 0.25 in FY2025. The latest payout therefore improved, but the record is not a steady upward progression.
News and sentiment
Direct coverage is thin: there were no material company articles in the 90-day window, with 0 positive, 0 negative and 0 neutral articles recorded.
The latest confirmed corporate actions are the FY2025 final dividend, which went ex on 2025-10-01 and paid on 2025-10-22, and the FY2024 final dividend, which went ex on 2024-09-30 and paid on 2024-10-18. No undated corporate action is recorded.
Financials
For the quarter ended 2026-03-31, revenue was LKR 804 million, down 3.2% year-on-year, while operating profit fell LKR 32.5 million and net profit fell 18.2% to LKR 182 million. The decline was therefore not merely below the operating line: operating profit itself weakened.
Gross margin narrowed to 35.5% from 37.0%, operating margin to 26.6% from 29.7%, and net margin to 22.6% from 26.8%. Even so, the latest operating margin ranked 2nd of 7 comparable March quarters and the net margin also ranked 2nd of 7; gross margin was more ordinary at 4th of 7.
The audited year ended 2025-03-31 had revenue of LKR 2.55 billion, up 41.5%, and net profit of LKR 358 million, up 36.0%, with ROE of 12.4%. Latest equity was LKR 3.25 billion versus LKR 2.72 billion a year earlier, while the share count was unchanged at 282.2 million. Finance costs, tax, associates and foreign exchange reduced the latest operating result by LKR 31.9 million, compared with LKR 23.9 million a year earlier.
Risks
The most important risk is cash quality. In the audited year ended 2025-03-31, cash conversion was only 0.02 times and free cash flow was LKR 2 million, so reported profit was not supported by comparable operating cash generation.
The balance sheet itself is lightly levered: gearing was 5.5% of owners' equity, interest cover was 162 times and the current ratio was 4.36. These figures limit immediate financing pressure, but do not remove the risk that working capital absorbs profit. Minority shareholders held 0.0% of profit in that period, so group profit and the earnings attributable to the valued shares were aligned.
The wider consumer-retail environment adds cost and demand pressure. July inflation reached 7.3%, food inflation was 6.3% and fuel prices rose by roughly 47%, all of which can raise production, distribution and household purchasing costs for a salt producer serving consumer markets.
Outlook
As at 2026-08-10, the next event is the filing for the quarter ended 2026-06-30, expected between 2026-07-28 and 2026-10-26. That filing will supersede the March figures and show whether the recent profit decline was temporary or part of a broader slowdown; the current data cannot answer that yet.
Falling Treasury-bill yields and generally easier bond yields could reduce financing pressure across the market, but July inflation and higher energy costs remain adverse sector conditions. With direct company coverage absent, the next filing is the clearest available evidence on revenue momentum, cash generation and the durability of the strong March operating performance.