R. Renganathan leaves behind a legacy of a decade at CDB

Rajkumar Renganathan, after 12 years of service at the helm of Citizens Development Business Finance PLC (CDB) will, in keeping with the requirements of the Corporate Governance Direction of the Central Bank, relinquish his position as Chairman of the entity.

He helped transform CDB from virtually an unknown institution in 2001 and established it within the top 10 financial institutions among the 38 financial institutions registered under the Finance Business Act.

A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, Renganathan has been on the Board of CDB since April 2000. He took over the reins as Chairman of CDB in 2008, and steered the company to establish it to its current grandeur during the decade of 2000 to 2011.

Under his stewardship, CDB’s transformation from a small player in 2001 to a prominent dynamic player within the industry by 2011 has been remarkable.

From 2001 to 2011, CDB’s total asset base has grown from mere Rs. 276 m to Rs. 14 b. The annual revenue has grown from mere Rs. 25 m to around Rs.3 b. Net assets which recorded a negative figure in 2001 have been converted to a positive of Rs. 2 b. From the loss making status in 2001, CDB has continuously recorded growth in profitability since 2004 and posted a net profit figure surpassing half a billion mark for the financial year 2010/11.

CDB has a BBB/P3 Investment grade credit rating by RAM Ratings (Lanka) Ltd. CDB was ranked 51st among the top 100 leading corporate brands  in Sri Lanka  by Brand Finance Sri Lanka.

During his 12 years tenure as a Board member and Chairman, CDB expanded its range of activities in the financial services arena and innovating operations to respond to new challenges, including the introduction of savings accounts operations with its strong 34 online connected outlets across the country.

 CDB is a listed entity on the main board of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and was recently adjudged the winner of the Specialised Banking and Financial services sector category at the recently concluded National Business Excellence Awards 2011 organised by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL).

Renganathan stated that CDB today stood as a strong financial institution with a strong management team and a proven track record. With a committed and a dedicated team across the organisation, CDB is poised to accelerate its progress during the decade 2011-2020.

He further opined that CDB was in safe hands with a bright future. Along with Renganathan, two other longstanding Senior Directors, namely Palitha Jayawardena and Mr. Thushara Ranasinghe, will also be stepping down after serving on the Board of CDB for over a decade, complying with the Corporate Governance Direction applicable for financial institutions registered under the Finance Business Act. CDB has made several new appointments in replacing the outgoing board members. Herschel Gunawardena, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK), will take over as the Chairman and will be a Non Executive Director.

 Ranga Abeynayake, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Sri Lanka who also holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), and Joseph Jayewardene have been appointed as Non Executive Directors, whilst Dave De Silva, a BSc.(Hon) in Business Administration from University of Sri Jayewardenepura and also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK), has been appointed as an Independent Non Executive Director.