Browns mulls leisure, healthcare sectors
Charumini de Silva
The Brown and Company PLC will diversify its portfolio further
expanding into healthcare, real estate and modern trade retailing, while
enhancing the other sectors such as power and energy, agriculture and
leisure industry. Brown and Company Group Managing Director and CEO
Murali Parkash said the company is focused aggressively on leveraging
core competencies.
Murali Prakash |
The company has performed extremely well during the last financial
year and the company took a few strategic decisions to invest in
sunshine industries. The company is expecting a higher growth for the
financial year 2011 and 2012 with further diversification.
Brown and Company PLC is keen on entering into foreign collaborations
in managing the leisure sector and if needed to the healthcare sector as
well.
“We are keen to get the support and the expertise from foreign
collaborations in the areas which the company has not got dominant
expertise,” he said.
The company has already commenced groundwork on the leisure sector.
“The group is planning to build a three to four star resort in
Kosgoda with a total investment of over Rs 1.5 billion. The blueprints
are already in line with a room capacity of 150. The resort is expected
to be complete by 2013. With the influx in the tourists arrivals the
leisure sector especially from regional countries such as India, China
and Japan the industry will continue to grow steadily.
The group has identified the leisure sector as a strategic sector as
Sri Lanka has the advantage of diversity in all sectors compared to the
other regional tourist destinations,” Prakash said.
The company is much focused on the leisure sector having plans to
build a city hotel and few resorts in the east coast and down south.
With the company hoping to move its head office, there is a land bank
of two acres in Darley road, which might be a possible location for the
city hotel.
He said the group is keen on a location in Ratmalana to set up a
housing development project and planning to relocate some of its
factories logistics, warehouse, manufacturing and assembling to
Makandura
Modern trading is another key area that the group currently focused
at. Countries like Singapore has modern trade over 80 percent, where Sri
Lanka has around 13 percent. However, with the impressive surge in the
country’s economy there is much affluence to develop Sri Lanka as a
shopping hub. This will help to increase tourist arrivals more from
regional countries, while enhancing the economy of the country.
New agricultural ventures such as tea, rubber and sugar have
performed well and the plants will be expanded further in the years to
come. The tea and the rubber sectors were able to obtain high returns
beyond the expectations.
The sugar plant in Hingurana, which is a private public partnership
(PPP) of Rs one billion investment, will be ready to manufacture sugar
by next year.
Commencing the sugar plant in 2012 will reduce sugar imports from 90
percent to 80 percent. The 3.2 megawatt hydro power joint venture of the
company will be expanded to 13 percent by 2013.
Prakash said these are all long-term investments of the company will
benefit company stakeholders as well as to the economy of the country.
The group will continue its growth impetus in all sectors in the years
to come. |