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Motha marks 50 years

Motha Jelly this year celebrates 50 years. Motha began way back in 1960 as a small family business of manufacturing hard boiled sweets and toffees and later changed over to jelly which is now a household name today.

The Motha brand since then grown to encompass several other well known products such as Quick Set Jelly (Moss Jelly), Diet Jelly, Faluda Mix, Pudding Mixes such as Caramel and Chocolate pudding, ingredients such as Icing Sugar, Baking Powder, Gelatine, Cornflour, Essences and Colouring which cater to several millions of consumers across geographical boundaries all over Sri Lanka, as well as overseas.

Way back in 1920, in pre-Independence Ceylon, Tiburtius Motha began importing confectionaries and jellies from the UK and marketed them to local consumers with great success. Four decades later, the import restrictions slapped in the early 1960s were to dramatically change the course of Motha's entrepreneurial journey.

The current Motha Confectionary Works Pvt Ltd Chairman Julius Motha had joined the family business by that time, and, together with his brother, began manufacturing toffees and jellies.

The first Motha jelly to hit the local market was 'Motha Strawberry Jelly' and there was no turning back. It proved to be an instant hit and took Sri Lankan consumers by storm.

With a favourable response from consumers islandwide, the Motha brothers next added custards and blancmanges to the portfolio. As the brand grew more and more popular with consumers, they kept asking for newer flavours and variants. This led to the addition of newer flavours and variants which were to take the brand to new heights.

Twenty five years down the line in 1985 as Motha grew and needed a highly professional marketing set up, the company looked around for "the most suitable distributor" for its products and selected Delmege, with its islandwide network, reach and expertise.

Today in 2010, Motha celebrates its Golden Jubilee, and parallely, a 25 year successful partnership with Delmege Distributors Pvt Ltd. Looking back on half a century of success, Motha Confectionary Works Pvt Ltd, Chairman Julius Motha said, "We're proud to have nurtured a wholly Sri Lankan brand with great success for so many years. This in fact one of the very few Sri Lankan brands to celebrate 50 years. The fact that Motha Jelly has withstood the test of time over half a century, and still remains a household name, speaks volumes for the product."

Delmege Distributors Pvt Ltd CEO Dinesh Nalliah said that the company has met with great success taking Motha products to all corners of Sri Lanka. "The Motha brand has been pro-actively adapting to varied consumer demands and changes while at the same time re-energizing the product portfolio. With a brand such as this, one of the top brands in Sri Lanka's FMCG industry and also a market leader in most of the product segments, it does make our task much tougher as well as challenging. This has been a very productive 25 year old partnership and we look forward to even greater success in the next 25 years".

Commenting on the markets in the North and the East, Nalliah said, "Even during the war, Motha products reached consumers in those areas on a relatively ad-hoc basis. However since the end of the war, the demand has improved dramatically and triggered a marked rise in sales.

Motha products are currently marketed to overseas markets such as the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, Italy, the Maldives, India and the Middle East.

Multi Finance moves to new head office in Kandy

The Multi Finance Company is a Central Bank regulated finance company headquartered in Kandy. Founded 36 years ago by the late R H Nelson and two other businessmen in Kandy. The company now has branches in Colombo, Gampaha, Kurunegala and Matara. To celebrate its 36th anniversary, Multi Finance Company moved its head office to a prestigious location in Hill Street, Kandy. The new head office was opened by Multi Finance Company and its holding Company Chairman Dr Asoka Jinadasa, Entrust Limited. A gathering of clients and well-wishers headed by the chief guest, Central Province Governor Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, took part in the opening ceremony.

Over the years, Multi Finance Company has acquired a loyal clientele that includes large and small businesses, entrepreneurs, professionals and individuals. Multi Finance Company General Manager and a Director Champika Atapattu said, "We have always focused on building long-term relationships with our clients. Our aim has been to understand their needs and provide them the financial advice and products they need to achieve their goals in an optimum manner. Our profitable growth is a direct result of our ability to deliver greater value and satisfaction to our clients, through flexible products and a personalized service," he said.

Executive Director and CEO A H M Riyaz, summarized the future plans of Multi Finance. "As the Sri Lankan economy enters a high growth era, finance companies have the responsibility to fuel that growth in a prudent manner. We take this responsibility very seriously. Our financial products and services are constantly reviewed and upgraded to meet market requirements. We expect to have Multi Finance Company listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange by next year. We will also introduce different kinds of investments and lending instruments in the future with varying options, many of which would be new to the finance sector," he said.

"As the world becomes increasingly competitive and financially volatile, businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals here in Sri Lanka will have to pay more attention to the prudent use of their financial resources. They will need to manage increasing levels of financial risk. "As a financial service provider in a volatile economic environment, our vision, 'To be the first choice for financial solutions' requires us to acquire a deeper understanding of the bigger issues involved and proactively develop appropriate responses", said Dr Asoka Jinadasa. "For example, our national savings ratio is far too low. To tempt people to save more, we are offering a higher interest rate for fixed deposits made during September. This special offer would provide us the opportunity to educate and inculcate the saving habit among the general public. Also, to guard against future shocks, we will continue to ensure that our assets exceed our liabilities by a very safe margin," he said.

The Multi Finance Company Limited is almost totally owned by Entrust Limited, which also owns Entrust Securities Limited, a primary dealer for Government securities.

West Indies Tour of Sri Lanka :

Elephant House official food, ice cream partner

Elephant House received the official food and beverage status of the current West Indies tour of Sri Lanka. The company has empowered Sri Lanka cricket over the years and this is one such endeavour to support the Sri Lankan team as they get ready for the world cup 2011.

The sponsorship was handed over to officials at a ceremony held at the Sri Lanka Cricket head office.

LOLC records good performance

Lanka ORIX Leasing Company PLC (LOLC) has recorded remarkable performance in profit, balance sheet size and footprint this year.

The company has shown tremendous growth and expects the growth momentum to continue for the second half as well. The first half results are encouraging and the current conducive business environment has positive impact on the company progress, LOLC’s Group Managing Director Kapila Jayawardena told Daily News Business.

The company which is placed within the top ten of largest companies of Sri Lanka in terms of market capitalization has grown substantially last year with its assets topping Rs 80 billion mark.

The NPL ratio is well below the industry average which is indicative of a strong balance sheet and the company has one of the strongest recovery processes in the country, which has been contributory to the successful financial performance for the year.

LOLC’s 25 direct subsidiaries have over 2,500 employees and over a 100 branches islandwide.

The customer base has increased to include 150,000 active customers and each month the company’s Group lending targeted mainly at SME and micro businesses have exceeded Rs four billion.

“We are currently the largest non-banking financial institution of the country and a leading blue chip company with the highest market share of the industry,” he said.

In the recent years, LOLC has been rapidly growing in to a financial services conglomerate.

The company had developed strong linkages and relationships with multilateral funding agencies such as IFC, ADB, GTZ and FMO.

The LOLC has been keenly following the current economic trends of the country and has placed its finger firmly on the pulse of the economy by moving in to key growth areas such as leisure, construction, agriculture, insurance and stock brokering. In addition, the company has been growing its reach and footprint across Sri Lanka and celebrated the opening of its 100th branch recently.

All the LOLC branches countrywide are linked to the centre at the Head Office situated in Rajagiriya and other multitude of financial services to the customers.

“We hope to give our customers a first class service with this fully integrated network. We have a unique relationship with Sri Lanka Post to open service centres which give access to deep rural areas that have not been penetrated by other financial institutions, “ Jayawardena said.

The company is happy that it had been able to make a difference to quality of life and to enrich people in these areas.

Today LOLC provides a wide range of financial services to a diverse base and its reach has become the key in its strategy.

The country is now the most peaceful place in South Asia and with the present stable political climate, we expect economic growth to move to double digit soon, and LOLC is best positioned to take advantage of this, Jayawardena said.

SJ

Lankaputhra launches ‘Aashcharyaya’

Lankaputhra Development Bank has now introduced a new fixed deposit certificate, named “Aashcharyaya”, offering a high rate of interest to customers. Lankaputhra Development Bank will offer a gift scheme to those opening the “Aashcharyaya” fixed deposit accounts from November 19 to December 31.

Lankaputhra Development Bank which enjoys a hundred percent state patronage is operating through a network of seven branches.

These branches have been set up in Colombo, Hambantota, Polonnaruwa, Kegalle, Kandy, Wennappuwa and Batticaloa while the management has also drawn up plans to extend the branch network to Moneregala as well as to the North.

‘Lets Travel’ launches new concept

Lets Travel is to focus on up market tourism and attract guests from Switzerland with a new concept titled ‘High tech, Low tech and No tech’. Lets travel Consultant Riza Ahamed told Daily News Business that this concept is meant for rich tourists who do not get the opportunity to experience the real life style of rural villages in Sri Lanka.

He provides hi tech equipment such as digital and video cameras, recorders and an Apple laptop to every guest during the tour. Only ten guests will be entertained at a time.

The idea is that they can go back and replay what they experienced and enjoy while taking the message among their friends which will help to build the image of the country in the long run.

“The most valuable thing in Sri Lanka is the sincere smile of the people in different areas,” he said .

When they go to a village a matured person in the house known by their pet names such as Punchi Aiya will explain about the village and how they live and treat the guests according to their way of life.

Low tech means that they spend a simple life during their stay. No tech is that the visitors themselves go to the chena or vegetable cultivation ,pick vegetables, then go to the boutique and purchase other items and prepare their own meals just as a person living in the village.

This will be done apart from visiting popular places earlier because those who have seen such places must have a new experience to encourage them to come again.

Riza said that the three components of in his concept are inter-connected and so attached to each one which will benefit every one.

“I have a very talented young team who think and do things innovatively and they are also benefited by this. My final motive is to build the image of Sri Lanka through my longstanding experience as an award winning tour guide and a traveller.

“I want to see Sri Lanka to be a high standard destination for tourists in par with European standards in this field.

“We have a visionary Tourist Board Chairman Nalaka Godahewa and the future of tourism will be very lucrative with his clear vision,” he said.

RK

Sampath at Pannala

With its rapid growth of branches islandwide, Sampath Bank opened its 166th branch in Pannala last week. A town that is predominantly agricultural, it takes up

almost 86 percent of the land for this purpose. With the opening of this branch Sampath Bank looks forward to serve the people of Pannala and its suburbs with an efficient and speedy service.

With a fine array of innovative solutions for every banking need among the vast portfolio of banking products and services and attractive discounts and offers on the credit and debit card services, a Sampath Bank account has become the “must have” financial accessory of the year, for the thrifty as well as the spendthrift, alike. Added to this, Sampath offers a variety of foreign currency accounts which include the Non- Resident Foreign Currency Account (NRFC), Resident Foreign Currency Account Scheme for Resident Sri Lankans (RFCA), Resident Non-National Currency account scheme for foreign citizens who hold valid Sri Lankan resident visas (RNFC), and Exporters Foreign Currency Account for exporters to maintain their export earnings in foreign currency (EFCA)

With a host of products designed to deliver better service quality, flexibility and value, Sampath Bank is the preferred partner when opting for a personal, business or trade loan, pawn facilities, savings and current accounts, e-remittances, foreign exchange, credit card services and any other financial service. Many products are offered with unique features that set them apart from the other products or services in the market.

With the opening of this modern branch at Pannala, the bank aims to sustain the development of the area by providing the much needed banking solutions with “greater quality of service.”

Lanka Hospitals offers sight

Colombo Lanka Hospitals Visiting Consultant for Cataract, Cornea and Laser Refractive Surgeries Dr Rajesh Fogla today tells the story of two patients who have endured blindness most of their lives. Patients who had adapted well to their situation, but have continued to hope that one day they might see. Likewise, there are ten million people in the world that are affected by corneal blindness at present, with cornea transplants proving to be one of the most successfully transplanted tissues, although lack of donors, cornea transplant failures, and deficient universal access leave many people blinded for life. Additionally, there is a 40 percent failure rate over a 10-year period.

Recent scientific developments however have shown promise for people suffering from corneal blindness and transplant failure. The advent of artificial and bioengineered corneas such as the Boston Keratoprosthesis may open the world of vision to many struggling to cope without sight.

As such, for patients who have undergone unsuccessful corneal transplants and have little or no sight, surgeons at Lanka Hospitals are now offering hope in the form of an artificial cornea. According to Dr Fogla, “When the cornea becomes severely diseased, it can be necessary to consider replacing it with a transplant from a donor or with a specially designed substitute. Many people with corneal disease can be helped by regular corneal transplantation involving tissue transplanted from human donors.

This is the most common treatment for severe corneal opacity; however, in some cases such transplantation rapidly fails. The Boston Keratoprosthesis - an “artificial cornea” that can be used in patients with severe corneal opacity has now been developed by one of our leading physician-scientists, the world-renown cornea specialist, Dr Claes H. Dohlman, and so it can now be used after standard corneal transplant has failed or when such a transplant would be unlikely to succeed. Thus keratoprosthesis implantation is a procedure designed to help patients whose conditions are the most difficult to treat.”

Dr Fogla then spoke of the two cases - one being that of a 32 year old male who suffered from the Stevens Johnsons Syndrome since 1985 and the second being that of a 27 year old who had total limbal stem cell deficiency in both eyes. “The first had corneal graft performed twice in the right eye, with the left eye eviscerated earlier elsewhere. On examination we discovered that the right eye has failed graft with total limbal stem cell deficiency and so we performed the Boston Keratoprosthesis with cataract surgery and IOL implantation.

By post operation day three we were happy to discover that the patient had regained 20/60+ vision in the right eye with a +3.0 correction. Further, fundus evaluation revealed healthy disc and macula,” he said. “The patient does have photophobia, but is thrilled to recover his vision back,” he said.