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| Monday, 8 September 2003 |
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Richard Peiris targets US$ 100 m turnover in five years by Ravi Ladduwahetty Blue chip Richard Peiris & Co. Ltd has targeted a US$ 100 million turnover in the next five years from the current US$ 16 million following a major restructuring programme of the company. The Richard Peiris Group will go in for a new product range with a new export oriented marketing strategy in a bid to make the company the best in Sri Lanka for technology, export marketing and product quality, the company's new Deputy Chairman/Managing Director/CEO Dr. Sena Yaddehige told a news conference at the Trans Asia Hotel on Friday night. Dr. Yaddehige who owns around a 27 per cent stake in the Richard Peiris Group, was extremely tightlipped on what the new product range would be. Despite repeated probing by journalists, he said that it was in the best interests of the company's future that the product range was being kept under wraps. However, he said that the investment for the new production process would be in the range between Rs. 25 million and Rs. 500 million, which will be dependant on the manner in which the automation and the human resources would be blended. However, he assured that the recent negotiations he had with a Foreign CEO in relation to the marketing of the new product range, would undoubtedly yield around US$ 30 million (around Rs. 3 billion) turnover per annum. This product is not going to be produced and marketed in the traditional manner. There will be tighter controls in production and in marketing. The vision encapsulates the fusion of automation, high tech marketing and the fortification of production and marketing skills, while enhancing the value for shareholders, he said. He said the existing activities of the Group such as the tyre rebuilding and super marketing would also be expanded. Asked what prospects the Group will have for the year 2003/2004, he said that exports would be doubled within the next two years. He also stressed that the Group had tremendous prospects in the plantation sector and especially RPK Plantation Managements Ltd which owns Kegalle Plantations. He outlined a strategy in which the company would be endeavouring to manufacture rubber based furniture, which itself was a value addition. Another meeting that Dr. Yaddehige had with an Italian company had revealed that there were 4000 containers of rubber wood furniture that was exported to Italy from China, Malaysia and South Africa and Richard Peiris was also to exploit that market. The turnover target of US$ 100 million for the next five years was inclusive of that, he said.Asked about the financing these projects, he said that the current shareholder support was adequate but " may have to effect some switches". He said that the financial restructuring of Asia Capital was also underway in which Richard Peiris had a 29 percent equity stake. It is a case of putting synergies together, he said. He said that the apparel factories of the Group were also secure and that they had orders up to the next six months. Asked about the termination of the Multi Fibre Agreement in 2005, he said that it was a blessing in disguise, which would make Sri Lanka come out of the system of protection. He said that if the products were price and quality competitive, it would enable the local exports to be competitive irrespective of the competitition that it would encounter from the rest of the world. " We should be able to stand on our own," he said. |
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