Financial Times

Distilleries now "one of the largest conglomerates"
Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka Ltd., (DCSL), the cash rich firm of influential tycoon Harry Jayawardena, has grown from being a company in the beverage sector to be one of the largest conglomerates in the island, its chairman V.P. Vittachi has told shareholders.

The DCSL group, which made a post-tax profit of Rs 1.9 billion in the 2003-04 financial year, has "significant interests" in several strategic sectors of the economy, he said in the company's annual report.

Group after-tax profit last year was Rs. 803 million. Profits for the 2003-04 financial year include a one-off profit of Rs 885 million from the sale of several major shareholdings.

This year is also the first in which profits of the subsidiary, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC), was consolidated with those of the group. SLIC made a profit of Rs 1.53 billion that included Rs 841 million from the sale of a major investment just before it was privatized and bought by Harry Jayawardena. The DCSL group had a turnover of Rs 18.8 billion in the year ended March 31, 2004.

Vittachi said the group had diversified extensively and is now in plantations, insurance and financial services and fabric processing while the investment in Aitken Spence & Co. Ltd has given it exposure to travel and tourism, cargo logistics and power generation.

However, the beverage sector is still the group's mainstay and accounted for the bulk of group profit from operations - Rs 2.2 billion - with insurance coming next with Rs 521 million, followed by textiles which made Rs 10.8 million. Plantation sector losses increased this year to Rs 33 million from Rs 8 million last year.

Back to Business