Jayampathi to bid goodbye to CTC after 45-year stint

Business leader Jayampathi Bandaranayake will bid adieu to Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc (CTC) later this month, after serving the top multinational for an illustrious 45 years.

At the upcoming Annual General Meeting on 28 March, Bandaranayake will step down as Chairman after completing the five-year term. He will be succeeded by existing CTC Board Director Susantha Ratnayake, who is also the Chairman of John Keells Holdings Plc.



“It has been my pleasure and privilege to serve this organisation for the past 45 years and guide its destinies over the past several years serving as a member on its Board over the past 22 years,” Bandaranayake said, in what will be his last message in CTC’s 2012 Annual Report.

“I am proud of the direction the company has taken in ensuring responsible conduct in all operations and maintaining a balance in terms of return and reward for all stakeholders. It has been a wonderful learning experience from the inception of my career at CTC; experiences that have helped me to contribute on wide and varied fronts in many other organisations as well,” Bandaranayake added.

In the CTC Chairman’s Review, he has expressed gratitude to all his colleagues past and present and fellow members of the Board for “making every experience one that I will remember and relish”.

He also thanked shareholders for the unwavering confidence placed in him, management teams and the company in the bid to deliver value to the nation and its communities at large.  

“In wishing Ceylon Tobacco Company the very best for the future, I am proud to leave behind a company that exemplifies excellence in its people and performance; a company that is responsible and resilient, one that will continue to deliver value to the nation, its people and shareholders,” Bandaranayake added.

Referring to his successor, Bandaranayake said Ratnayake is no stranger to CTC, having served on the Board since 2006. “Susantha brings with him a wealth of astute management experience, which no doubt will place CTC in a position of unparalleled strength. I wish him every success in his new capacity,” outgoing Chairman Bandaranayake said.

Ratnayake is also the current Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Vice Chairman of the Employers Federation of Ceylon.

In 2012, CTC contributed Rs. 71.2 billion in revenue to the Government via taxes and levies, up by Rs. 5.1 billion over 2011.

The company’s net profit amounted to a record Rs. 8.1 billion, up from Rs. 6.5 billion whilst net revenue was Rs. 19.2 billion, as against Rs. 17 billion in the previous year. Gross revenue grew from Rs. 76 billion to Rs. 82.7 billion in 2012.