LB Finance PLC bags silver at CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards 2023

By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe 

Marking another significant milestone in its over 50-years journey of financial stewardship, LB Finance PLC bagged the silver award at the recently concluded CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards ceremony. The Company won this award for proving its excellence in integrated reporting and sustainability disclosures. 

In a candid interview with the Daily Mirror, LB Finance PLC’s Chief Financial Officer, Malith Hewage spoke about their achievements, the team spirit and why they have opted for integrated reporting and sustainability disclosure practices. 

Excerpts ; 

Q : LB Finance has always secured top positions in integrated and sustainability reporting. How do you feel about this achievement?

It’s a great pleasure to mention that we won the silver award and it’s a huge achievement for our company. LB Finance PLC has an illustrious tradition of financial stewardship spanning over 50 years in the industry. We are proud of our financial performance even amidst  turbulent economic conditions. We have been improving over the past decade and we are now focusing more on the integrated reporting landscape. I take this opportunity to thank Prof. Lakshman R Watawala for bringing up the ideology of this competition.

Q : What is your secret to be in the top notch?

I should mention the support extended by the senior management of the company. With their support we managed to establish a sustainability core for our company and we have been implementing since 2015. This has helped us to create an environment to carry out integrated reporting practices where we can highlight ourselves in the corporate landscape. Our main priority was to be transparent. The main purpose of integrated reporting was to show how the financial capital is being generated; how we create value, preserve value and how this value erodes as well. 

Q : What is your view on the impact of practicing integrated reporting and sustainability disclosures voluntarily?

 Globally integrated reporting and sustainability disclosures are mandatory in several countries, especially in South Africa. So as one of the top companies following integrated thinking within the organization we want to be on par with leading international companies who are following these standards and practices. We want to showcase ourselves and represent our country in the international arena. Integrated reporting not only enhances the reputation of the organization through transparent and concise communication of our strategies it also lends itself as an invaluable tool to international investors.

Q : How competitive is the integrated reporting and sustainability disclosure practice within the corporate landscape?

All companies and top competitors in the industry have made lot of improvements. Everybody is doing new things which they can showcase at the competition. This is not only about reporting but it should come from the operations and the business as well. We promote integrated thinking within the organization as all departments, employees get together to achieve a common goal.  We did several innovations transforming the integrated reporting landscape while creating an integrated reporting and sustainability reporting culture within the organization. Thereafter, it is a matter of showcasing these practices in the report. We use the integrated report to pinpoint our internal best practices including corporate governance and risk management. 

Q : Why did you think of applying for this competition?

This competition is a main KPI for us and a good tool to evaluate ourselves. Participating in this competition made us improve as a company. The panel of judges have provided us with comments and insights which we could improve on. From last year to this year we improved based on their recommendations. When they suggested certain changes last year we took them seriously and we were able to bring our annual report to the level of achieving second place. Integrated reporting in Sri Lanka is a voluntary process. If you look at the reports and players in Sri Lanka, they are putting a lot of efforts to comply with international standards and requirements. The level of annual reports in Sri Lanka is of high standards and are on par with international companies. 

Q : How does the Company benefit from integrated reporting and sustainability disclosures?

We consider the value creation business model as the main component of our integrated reporting and sustainability disclosures. This reflects the big picture of the organisation where the value created and distributed to all the stakeholders are individually identified. 

Here at L B Finance, we have found that placing integrated thinking at the heart of our strategy has allowed us to improve our decision-making capabilities. In addition, being accountable and transparent about the impacts of the organisation has allowed us to gain a better understanding of how we create value. We have also been able to understand our indirect impacts, so we can take ownership for every action across all the areas in which we serve.

Q : How do you plan to implement a futuristic approach to cater new innovations to the masses?

Literally, by bringing up the concept of “report for all”, we have already made our annual report accessible across various segments in society as it is published in trilingual media and is available in Braille format as well. We are the first listed corporate in Sri Lanka which started a dedicated website and Facebook page for sustainability. We have introduced a podcast series as our latest step towards the journey of innovation. Every year we keep pushing ourselves for improvements and thinking out-of-the-box for new concepts, ideas and trends. Moreover, the youth is one key segment that we are focusing on. Since we are now in the digital era we will be looking at new platforms and newer approaches to reach out to the youth.