Sarvodaya relaunches finance company

by Rohana Jayalal

The biggest frauds are carried out by the biggest finance companies, founder of the Sarvodaya Movement, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne told the guests at the launch of Sarvodaya Development Finance Limited in Colombo last week.

Dr. Ariyaratne revealing the meaning behind the new name, said that 'Sarva' means all, 'Udaya' means awakening; awakening of all human beings, living beings and nature.

Deshodaya Development Finance Company (DDFC), a subsidiary of the Sarvodaya Economic Enterprise Development Service (SEEDS) was relaunched as Sarvodaya Development Finance Limited.

Over 81.3 percent of the shares of Sarvodaya Development Finance Limited is owned by Sarvodaya Economic Enterprises Development (Guarantee) Limited and 18.6 percent by Gentosha Total Asset Consulting Inc., of Japan.

In September last year, DDFC acquired a 75% stake of listed company, George Steuart Finance PLC (GSF) for over Rs. 400 million as part of a regulator-driven consolidation move. The two firms will be merged in the future through a share swap.

George Steuart Finance PLC formerly Divasa Finance was re-branded as GSF two years ago after securing a finance licence from the Central Bank in May 2011. The company offered financial intermediary services since 2005 under the name 'Asia Commerce Limited' as an approved leasing company under the Finance Leasing Act till May 2011.

Chairman, Sarvodaya Development Finance, Eastman Narangoda said, "As a strategy to improve business we will look at the lower end of the SME sector. Through this we will move into leasing for SME and Micro customers and develop loan products as well. Our long-term objective is to transform our company into a development bank. Our aim is to uplift families, communities, and help reduce poverty to some extent."

Sarvodaya Development Finance will be a catalyst in creating an economically progressive society. It is headed by a qualified and experienced Board of Directors to ensure the fulfillment of this vision, the chairman said.

CEO, Sarvodaya Development Finance, Ravindra Ranjith said, "The deposit base is Rs.3 billion and the loan portfolio is also Rs. 3 billion. We disburse about 4,000 loans a month and the average loan is about Rs. 50,000. Our asset base is Rs. 4.2 billion and the capital is Rs. 1billion.