People’s Merchant Finance posts Rs. 201 m record profit in FY22

• Strengthens senior management with Terence Kumara appointed as Deputy CEO

People’s Merchant Finance PLC (PMF) has reported Rs. 201 million as operating profit before taxes for the year ended 31 March 2022, a year when Sri Lanka’s economy has hit crisis mode is an

Chairman Chandula Abeywickrema

CEO Nalin Wijekoon

achievement to be celebrated. It was the highest ever profits achieved by the Company. 

PMF started its journey of transformation in 2019 with a vision to renew, revitalise and reposition the company to become an innovative player in the financial services sector and evolve to the next phase of business growth. The company has since successfully grown and prospered with ample support from its major shareholder, Sterling Capital Investments Ltd. (SCIL), a subsidiary of Rush Japan Cooperation.

PMF Chairman Chandula Abeywickrema said: “We started our journey when we believed that the economy was on a growth phase, with expectations of achieving phenomenal growth by capitalising on opportunities that emerge when economic growth abounds. However, soon after we embarked on our transformational journey, we faced many unexpected developments from the 2019 terror attacks in Sri Lanka to the local and global impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now the economic crisis that we face as a nation. 

“Still, we continued to remain positive in our outlook for PMF. We had our fundamental beliefs in place and our plan was for long-term sustainable success. We believed that even with new challenges and difficulties, we would thrive mainly as we were focused on innovatively offering financial services to the people in the way they need it.”

The company has successfully completed an internal restructuring and strengthened its management base, the newest addition being Terence Kumara as the Deputy CEO. By utilising his extensive experience in the fields of finance, banking, and SME development, Kumara will further complement the management team and support PMF’s transformational growth to bring the right product at the right time and at the right price to meet the diverse financial needs of the Sri Lankan people.

PMF successfully launched a new product to cater to the needs of home-grown entrepreneurs taking the first step in providing non-traditional innovative financial products for the middle and low-end SME market space. Furthermore, the focus remained on relocating and refurbishing its physical branch network with the aim to go where its customers are, thereby increasing convenience and making financial services available to all. 

PMF Chief Executive Officer Nalin Wijekoon said: “It is heartening to see the progress the company has made in the last year. We, the company and the people, faced many challenges. Even then, we continued believing in the vision set out by the Chairman and the BOD for the future path of PMF. The achievements we’ve made to date are much greater than our expectations and much credit goes to our employees who worked closely with the management and our customers to provide customised and timely financial services.”

PMF said its transformational journey will continue in the financial year 2022/23 despite the challenges that abound.