Financial Times

Ratnayake prepares to take over JKH
Susantha Ratnayake, newly appointed deputy chairman of John Keells Holdings (JKH), is preparing to take over the conglomerate next year by progressively shedding direct responsibility for business units he headed and getting ready to assume overall control of the group.

JKH last month announced that chairman Vivendra Lintotawela is to retire in one year's time and will be succeeded in January 2006 by Ratnayake, one of the company's joint managing directors. Ratnayake was named deputy chairman of the blue chip conglomerate whose shares are highly sought after by foreign and local investors alike.

Ratnayake told The Sunday Times FT last week that the usual practice at JKH was for the chairman not to directly run any of its diversified business units. The objective of the practice is to enable the chairman to have an unbiased, 'big picture' view of all of the blue chip's many businesses.

The company is to make a statement on the planned changes shortly. As part of this strategy, the Board of Directors of JHK recently appointed Rohan Karr, general manager of Colombo Plaza, to the board of Trans Asia Hotels Ltd.

Both city hotels are now part of the JKH group and JKH said Karr's appointment would lead to better synergies between the two hotels and a joint marketing plan.

Ratnayake has been a member on the JKH Board since 1992/1993 and has been overseeing the infrastructure, logistics, plantations and the hotels division of the leisure sectors of the group. He was also responsible for new business development and group initiatives functions at the centre and John Keells, Singapore.

"The practice has always been that the chairman does not directly run any business," Ratnayake said. "This is the better practice as it ensures you have an unbiased view of everything that's happening. If you are running a business unit your view could get clouded.

As executive directors or managing directors, we had responsibilities for certain businesses of the group but the chairman never had direct responsibility. That practice would continue."

The JKH statement on the succession also said the group's other joint managing director, Ajit Gunewardena, will become deputy chairman when Ratnayake takes over as chairman.

Gunewardena now oversees the financial services, tea broking and warehousing, information technology and the inbound division of the leisure sectors of the group and the human resources and real estate functions at the centre.

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