Net profit spikes in Q1 for Lascelles DeMercado

Despite flat revenue growth during the quarter, the conglomerate started the financial year on a bright note. Cost reductions across major expense lines helped to drive up the performance during the quarter. For the three month period ended December 2010, net profit jumped 37% to $821.3Mn (EPS: $8.56) compared to $601.1Mn (EPS: $6.26) in the first quarter of the 2009/10 financial year. Further improvement in operational efficiencies will be necessary over  subsequent quarters without further increases in gross revenues.