Dream team at Keells

I have just read with admiration the Annual Report of John Keells Holdings Ltd and I must say that I am amazed by the insights that the report provides.

I can only attribute the current success of John Keells to the dream team combination of Susantha Ratnayake, Ajit Gunewardena and Ronnie Peiris.

Being an old Royalist, I have followed the styles of Susantha and Ajit over a period of time.

Both of them represented their school sports teams with distinction. Susantha played rugby and cricket while Ajit played rugby and also was in the rowing team. Susantha is street smart and is an entrepreneur who can smell a deal a mile away.

Ajit , on the other hand, is a risk taker and has the connections. His networking capability is par excellence. Ronnie, I do not know personally, but there are many of my friends who know him well.

Ronnie, they say, is a brilliant manager, and financial strategist, who rose to the highest level an Asian could have reached since then, with Anglo American Corporation, a giant MNC that in the 80s and the 90s was a white supremacy bastion. He was the MD of the Anglo American conglomerate in Central Africa that had interests in many industries and controlled many of the African economies.

People I talk to say that Susantha’s flair, Ajit’s connections and Ronnie’s calming influence are what makes John Keells tick.

They surely are a Dream Team!

A.W.Perera
Nugegoda.