Nimal to sit in Hayleys Board

Hiran H. SENEWIRATNE

Former investment advisor Nimal Perera is likely to acquire a seat in the Board room one of the Lankan leading blue-chip companies Hayleys Group, its sources said.

Currently, Perera is the Deputy Chairman of Pan Asia Bank and the Managing Director of Royal Ceramic Limited and is likely to be appointed to the main Director Board of Hayleys Group shortly, stock market sources said.

“We now own 21 per cent of stake in Hayleys and are expecting two seats in the board. The company have now invited for one position in the board, which Dammika Perera is expected to occupy while the balance seat is expected to be invited shortly,’ he said.

Perera said they have spent Rs 2 billion to purchase Hayleys shares in the stock market up to now and expect to purchase more shares in the future.

A six per cent stake in Sri Lanka’s Hayleys group was owned by Carson and Cumberbatch controlled companies and was bought by businessman Dhammika Perera recently.

The Ceylon Investments Company sold a stake in Hayleys amounting to 1,822,632 shares while Ceylon Guardian Investment Trust sold 2,164,358 shares to Perera, brokers said.

Hayleys group has a market capitalisation of Rs 9.37 billion, which is 1.15 per cent of the total market.

Hayleys has achieved a robust sales growth in the recent years through the expansion of its traditional businesses and by venturing into new areas. The company has taken initiatives to set up offshore manufacturing units to broaden its manufacturing capacity and ensure better access to raw materials in several business sectors.

Fitch expects this to add more stability to the operating results of the company. The company however, notes that much of Hayleys’ investments have been debt-financed.

Hayleys PLC is one of Sri Lanka’s largest and most diversified conglomerates and has been established for more than 125 years.