Business Today Top Twenty Five recognises top corporate performers

Business Today Top Twenty Five recognised and commended the top corporate performers of Sri Lanka for the financial year 2011-2012. The award ceremony was held on 22 October 2012 at the Hilton Colombo, acknowledging 25 outstanding companies that have displayed exceptional performance in corporate Sri Lanka during the year.

This year Business Today expanded the ranking to twenty five companies in order to acknowledge and encourage new entrants while appreciating the strong and established blue chips of the country.

The Chief Guest was Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development, while the Guest of Honour was Ranil Wickremesinghe, Leader of the Opposition. The event was graced by many other distinguished guests and invitees that included leading personalities from the business fraternity, diplomats, foreign dignitaries, military, politicians and policymakers of Sri Lanka.

Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Minister of Technology and Research and Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed the gathering on this occasion.

John Keells Holdings once again ranked at number one in the Business Today Top Twenty Five, thereby substantiating its place as the giant in the corporate sector of Sri Lanka. The group’s 27 per cent increase in revenue from last year to Rs. 76.70 billion was attributed to the increase not only in transportation but also leisure and consumer foods and retail.

Bukit Darah and Commercial Bank of Ceylon secured the second and third positions respectively. Recording a growth of seven per cent the profit after tax (PAT) of Bukit Darah was Rs. 10.7 billion.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon’s PAT grew by 45.71 per cent to record a value of Rs. 8.048 billion for the first time in the history of the bank.

The Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka ranked fourth while Lanka Orix Leasing Company secured the fifth place. Hatton National Bank was positioned sixth, Ceylon Tobacco Company at seven while Dialog Axiata secured the eighth position. Hayleys was at ninth position and Sri Lanka Telecom was at tenth position completing the top ten.

The ranking continues with Aitken Spence at 11, Sampath Bank – 12, Diesel amd Motor Engineering – 13, Nestlé Lanka – 14, Vallibel One – 15, CT Holdings – 16, Richard Pieris and Company – 17, NDB Bank – 18, DFCC Bank – 19, United Motors – 20, Softlogic Holdings – 21, Expolanka Holdings – 22, Ceylinco Insurance – 23, Chevron Lubricants Lanka – 24 and Colombo Dockyard at 25.

The Business Today Top Twenty Five companies have been selected on the basis of their financial performance during the financial year ending 31 December 2011 and 31 March 2012.

Turnover itself is not a clear indicator of the performance of a company.

As such, some of the established financial criteria considered for selecting the top twenty five companies included share turnover, revenue, profit after tax, growth in sales turnover, growth in profit, return on equity, growth in earnings per share, market capitalisation, value of shares transacted and value addition.

Business Today has annually recognised and awarded top corporate performers in the country since 1998, acknowledging them for their invaluable contribution towards reinforcing the country’s economy.