Lanka Hospitals creates history at Colombo Stock Exchange

The Board of Directors at Lanka Hospitals PLC, which comes under the purview of the Finance Ministry, was replaced by the new government. Venerable Theeniyawala Palitha Thera too has been included in the new 13 member Board of Directors.

Thus, Lanka Hospitals PLC enters history as the first Listed Company at the Colombo Stock Exchange to have a Buddhist monk on its Board of Directors.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on 20 February that a 13 member Board of Directors, including Dr. Sarath Paranavithana as Chairman, Deputy Secretary of the Sri Lanka Mahabodhi Society Ven. Theeniyawala Palitha Thera and Dilani Lokuhetti have been nominated and would be announced within a few days.

Ven. Theeniyawala Palitha Thera is the chief incumbent of the Nalandaramaya Temple in Nugegoda and a prominent member of the United National Party’s (UNP) National Bhikku Front and has been involved in several activities like against the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s hedging deal and the increase of the electricity tariffs by the Ceylon Electricity Board. He has been closely backed by new Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake in most of these cases.

One of the largest private hospitals in Sri Lanka, Lanka Hospitals was established in 2002 as the Apollo Hospital with investments from the Chennai based Apollo Hospitals Group on a plot of government owned land at Elvitigala Mawatha in Narahenpita.

The prominent feature here is the Apollo Hospitals Group selling its shares and leaving the business at a period when this hospital was incurring losses. An examination of its financial reports reveals that during the June quarter of 2006 Apollo Hospitals was incurring a loss of Rs. 14.3 million.

However, in 2009, with the Supreme Court revoking the privatization of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation and vesting its shares with the Finance Ministry, the ownership of Lanka Hospitals Corporation shares of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation came into government hands.

Following this, the Board of Directors was dissolved and a new Board under the Chairmanship of then Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was appointed.

Under the Chairmanship of then Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, this hospital saw a turn-around and transformed itself into a profit earning entity, without Gotabhaya Rajapaksa reportedly not obtaining a salary for his services.

The Lanka Hospitals Board of Directors under the Chairmanship of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa comprised Ms. R.S. Cabraal, Vidyajothi Professor Dayasiri Fernando, Gamini Wickremasinghe, P.A. Lionel, Malvinder Mohan Singh, Shivinder Mohan Singh, Sunil Godwani, Bandula Wijesiriwardene, Nihal Jayatilleke and Kanishka Karunaratne. Three Indian nationals were appointed to this Board to represent the 28.6 per cent shares of Lanka Hospitals owned by Sri Lanka Distilleries Corporation which were bought by the prominent Indian hospital group Fortis Healthcare Limited.

Currently, around 55 per cent shares of Lanka Hospitals belong to Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation while some 10 per cent is with the Bank of Ceylon. While some 28 per cent is held by India’s Fortis Healthcare Limited around 08 per cent more are with shareholders through the Colombo Stock Exchange. There are some 8,500 shareholders of Lanka Hospitals through the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Lanka Hospitals recording a profit of Rs. 269 million within the first nine months of 2014 is another significant feature.

Recently, Chief Executive Officer of Lanka Hospitals Ltd., Lakith Pieris informed the Colombo Stock Exchange that he is to resign from his post effective 31 March 2015. He is reportedly to join the competitor in the healthcare sector, Hemas Hospitals Group.

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Commodities Exchange to be launched soon - US$ 6.5 million WB funding for warehouses

By Ravi Ladduwahetty

Ceylon Finance Today: The concept of a Commodities Exchange would be launched in Sri Lanka soon which will also have concessionary funding from the World Bank worth US$ 6.5 million where warehouses for the storage of grains and cereals would be constructed.

There is initially the construction of a massive warehouse in Galenbindunuwewa in the Anuradhapura District where cereals and grains could be stored, where the farmers could sell their produce within a time limit of 120 days when they get the best prices, a senior spokesman for the Ministry of Finance told the Ceylon FT on Friday.

Some of the products which could be stored at these warehouses are: paddy, corn, soya bean, green gram, black gram, and the new warehouse would see the storage capacity of 500,000 tonnes of all commodities within an area of two million square feet.
There would be other similar warehouses constructed in Mannar, Moneragala and other agricultural areas as well, based on the success of the initial one, he said.

The government would be charging a nominal storage fee of one cent per kilo of every grain in the first month, but would charge only 50 cents per kilo of the grain from the second month; but the lessee will have to clear his stocks within the stipulated 120 days, the spokesman said.

This system would also come in handy for those farmers who cannot get the best prices for their produce, await the time that the prices of those commodities are at a peak, he said, adding that these farmers, would also be able to avail themselves of loan facilities for 50% of the value of the produce they have in stock at the warehouse.
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EPF, Foreign reserve investments directly under cb Governor Sweeping changes in hierarchy

By Ravi Ladduwahetty

Ceylon Finance Today: In a new strategic move, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has incorporated a new division named as the Risk Management Division which would manage the risk of investments into the Employees' Provident Fund and Foreign Reserves which would be placed direct under Governor Arjuna Mahendran.


Sources also said that there have been sweeping changes under the new hierarchy.
The Monetary Board of the Central Bank has also appointed P. Samansiri as Senior Deputy Governor, which would also mean that he would be the Acting Central Bank Governor during Governor Arjuna Mahendran's absence. That was also the case in the absence of Governor Mahendran during the latter's recent visit to New York and Washington.

Samansiri has also been given the Banking and Finance Division, which was earlier handled by Deputy Governor Ananda Silva. He would also be in charge of Treasury Bills and Bonds and be Chairman of the Committee on financial stability, national payments and a host of others as well.

He would also oversee the Banking Supervision Department, the Non Banking Financial Institutions , Public Debt, Exchange Control, Payments and Settlements and the financial intelligence unit as well.

The functions of the other Deputy Governors and the Assistant Governors have also been changed. Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe will continue as Deputy Governor, as a Policy Adviser on Economic Policy while also chairing the committees on Economic Policy and Foreign Reserves.


He would also be heading the Economic Research Division, the Regional Division, Centre for Banking Studies, Information Technology, security services and employee services.
The other Assistant Governors are: J.P. Mampitiya, Dr. W.M. Hemachandra, C.J.P. Siriwardena, R. Dheerasinghe, S.S. Ratnayake, D. Wasantha, C.P.A. Karunatilleke and H.A. Karunaratne.

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