News
Perpetual Treasuries total assets go up to Rs. 23 b.
This puts PTL’s total assets by September 2016, at over Rs 23 billion, up from around Rs 11.8 billion by March 31.
Its income from trading activities has gone up from around Rs 5.5 billion (5,574,781,132) by March, 2016, to Rs 6.2 billion (6,260,644,701) by September, according to the statement of comprehensive income for the six months ended September 30, 2016, announced yesterday. The financial accounts were signed by PTL Chairman, G.J. Aloysius.
PTL is at the center of a controversy over the TB issue of February 27, 2015, due to allegations that its links with former Central Bank (CB) Governor Arjuna Mahendran, helped PTL win the giant’s share of the Rs 10 billion bid. The Company is run by the family of Mr Mahendran’s son-in-law, Arjun Aloysius.
The Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) which probed the TB issue, concluded that PTL, out of all the PDs, has made enormous financial dividends through TB transactions in 2015 and early 2016, and that, there is reasonable suspicion that the former CB Governor has made an “intervention and influenced the issuing of the TBs, at the transaction held on February 27, 2015.”
A large portion of these TBs were later purchased by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) from the Secondary Market, at over Rs 2.3 6 billion from PTL, just four months after the TB issue of February 27, 2015.This is despite the fact that, though EPF has the capacity to purchase TBs from the primary auction, it instead chose to buy from PTL at a higher rate, which too has come under COPE scrutiny.
And despite calls by COPE Chairman, MP Sunil Handunnetti and others for the de-listing of PTL as a PD, it continues to be a PD in government securities appointed by the CB.
Meanwhile, the JVP has written to Speaker Karu Jayasuirya to give an early date for the debate on the COPE report on the TB issue. The Joint Opposition (JO) too has asked for an early debate. Parliament will next meet on January 24, when a debate is likely that week.