Sunshine Holdings’ inaugural Agri and Healthcare Awards Night celebrates top achievers

Sri Lanka’s diversified conglomerate, Sunshine Holdings PLC recognised their best-performing employees of agribusiness and healthcare sectors during the financial year of 2017/18 recently at the Sunshine Holdings Awards 2018 held at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo. 

The awards night marked a significant milestone in terms of employee recognition for Sunshine Holdings as its two main business sectors celebrated their achievements on a single platform for the first time as the Sunshine Group commemorated 50 years of responsible entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka. 

The award ceremony was attended by Hatton and Watawala Plantations Chairman Sunil Wijesinha, Sunshine Holdings Group Managing Director Vish Govindasamy, key members of the Sunshine Group’s management team, board members, distinguished guests and employees from Sunshine Healthcare, Healthguard, Watawala Plantations and Hatton Plantations.

A total of 106 awards – Long Service, Excellence, Managing Director’s and Chairman’s Awards – were distributed among the winners at the Sunshine Holdings Awards 2018. Hatton Watawala Region, which comes under Hatton Plantations, was adjudged the Region of the Year while Dhanushka Daswatte of Nakiadeniya Estate and Suranga Dela of Abbotsleigh Estate were adjudged Estate Managers of the Year of Watawala Plantations and Hatton Plantations respectively. Niroshan Fernando of Carolina Estate was adjudged the Estate Assistant Manager of the Year of Hatton Plantations while Thilina Pathirana of Talangaha Estate was Watawala Plantations’ Assistant Estate Manager of the Year. 

In the Healthcare sector, significant winners of the night were W.M.G.M. Halangoda (Best Sales Manager – Sunshine Healthcare), Rohana Jayasinghe (Best Manager – Pharma Marketing), Banuka Gunasekara (Best Manager – Pharma Marketing), Nishantha Arasekularathne (Best Manager – Marketing – Medical Devices), Kelaniya Sales Team (Best Sales Team), Zydus Cardiva 1 Team (Best Marketing Team) and Siemens Team (Best Marketing Team – Medical Devices).

Addressing the gathering, Govindasamy said: “You need to get very good results from your companies to be recognised and rewarded at Sunshine Holdings. The only criteria at Sunshine Holdings to be rewarded and recognised are performance and performance only. We do not discriminate against race, religion or gender and that does not happen in our Group. All you have to do is perform and be recognised and rewarded and those of you who were recognised today have just done that.”  “During the last financial year, the Group has had a fantastic year given all the challenges the country has been facing. All this could not have been done without each one of you, making huge sacrifices. While it is all about awards, for me, the night is about all of you. It is all of you that make Sunshine shine every day. I would like to say thank you to each one of you for making those sacrifices and making shareholders of Sunshine Holdings happy and proud,” Govindasamy stated. During 2017/18, the Group’s healthcare sector posted revenue growth of 3.8% Year-on-Year (YoY) mainly supported by its retail sub sector – represented by its rapidly-growing Healthguard franchise – growing 22% YoY. Healthcare profits expanded by 30.5% YoY to Rs. 258 million, and the pharma sub-segment which represents 67% of healthcare revenue grew by 4.6% YoY for FY18, due to higher sales volumes. The company’s pharma segment is the second largest player in the country with 12% share of the market (IMS data). Comprising Watawala Plantations, which manages the Group’s substantial oil palm business, and Hatton Plantations PLC, its recently listed subsidiary – following a demerger from WATA – manages the Group’s tea business, the Sunshine agribusiness sector posted 11.8% YoY growth in turnover to close the year with a combined revenue of Rs. 7.3 billion. During the last financial year, the Group’s palm oil segment contracted by 5.5% YoY; however this decline was offset by outstanding improvements in the tea sector which posted 16.8% YoY growth during the period in review – owing to higher volumes and favourable market prices.

Two appreciation awards were presented by Govindasamy and Wijesinha at the awards night to A. Velayuthan and Milton Wijepala in recognition of their significant contribution towards uplifting the standards of their palm oil mill for more than two decades and converting it to be a superior oil palm producer in Sri Lanka and a structured and organised strategic business of the Group.