By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera
Lanka Orix Leasing Company Plc (LOLC) while saying it’s not directly exposed to the global financial meltdown is gearing for strict measures in terms of compliance to face this, which according to analysts, will scale down to Sri Lanka in a matter of months, a top LOLC official said.
"We are a rupee company and we do not engage in import/export businesses. As such we are relatively insulated from the global meltdown (which will hit Sri Lanka). But we are monitoring whether these exogenous factors will affect our customers," Kapila Jayawardena LOLC Group Managing Director and CEO told The Sunday Times FT.
He said as such, LOLC is now focusing more on collections and customer repayment capacity when providing services. "We have been very agile, proactive and very planned for this, because we know that as a country we were exposed to the global financial meltdown," he added.
He said having had a successful growth during last year and also for the last quarter; LOLC will forge ahead with its focus of being a financial services conglomerate. "Now our business is more granular, as we have micro financing, small and medium loan financing, etc in addition to leasing which is only 14 percent of our total portfolio," he said.
He said that 2009 will be a year of consolidation for the company. "We want to assess the impact of the global slowdown to Sri Lanka and be fairly cautions with our investment plans. The present strategy is to grow within our existing frame," he added.
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