Kanrich Finance to raise Rs. 2 b capital

• Funds to be raised via private placement in line with CB requirements 
• Core capital expected to rise to Rs. 3 b after issuance

Kanrich Finance Ltd. (KFL) will raise Rs. 2 billion capital through a private placement in order to fulfil the core capital requirement by year end as stipulated by the Central Bank, the organisation said in a statement yesterday.  

The Central Bank periodically stipulates the minimum core capital financial institutions need to maintain and accordingly the minimum core capital that a registered finance company should maintain after 1 January 2021 is Rs. 2 billion. 

Last week, the Central Bank granted approval to Kanrich Finance Ltd. to issue ordinary voting shares and non-redeemable, non-cumulative preference shares. The private placement plans to raise Rs. 1 billion in ordinary shares and a further Rs. 1 billion in preference shares, which together will bring the core capital close to Rs. 3 billion. 

Incorporated in 1971, Kanrich Finance was re-launched in 2010 and within a period of six years the company managed to increase its asset base from Rs. 600 million to Rs. 12 billion and expanded a single location company into a finance company with 36 branches and over 1,000 employees.

The company was also awarded as the ‘Fastest Growing & Emerging Finance Company’ and ‘The Best Micro Finance Service Provider’ in Sri Lanka during the Financial Years 2014/2015/2016 consecutively at the Global Banking & Finance Review Awards. 

The company has a diversified lending portfolio comprising of leasing, micro leasing, micro finance, pawning and consumer loans. Currently the company is concentrating mainly on lending in pawning and will start diversifying again once the share issue is complete.

Stepping into its 50th year, the company will complete the share issue before the end of the year and is hopeful that the current economic climate would also improve by then and help the company on its growth path.