NEWS IN BRIEF

Textured Jersey among Asia’s best

Textured Jersey (TJ) has been placed on the Forbes ‘Asia’s 200 Best Under a Billion’ list of 2016.

The 200 companies in the Forbes’ Best Under a Billion Asia-Pacific list must have an annual revenue between $5 million and $1 billion and be publicly traded for at least a year.

The 200 are picked from a universe of over 15,000 companies across the Asia-Pacific exchanges based on earnings growth, sales growth and return on equity in the past 12 months and over three years.

CEO of Textured Jersey, Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne said, “To be recognized by a prestigious brand such as Forbes is a benchmark achievement for the Company as well as the industry.”

“We will continue to work closely with our Customers and Partners; our teams have put in phenomenal efforts to consistently provide new Innovations, Costs savings and Faster Delivery to the many Brands we service,” he said.

“The Global Fashion Industry is in a transformative stage, and to have a Textile firm manage this turbulence while outshining thousands of businesses in Asia to be featured in the top 200, is indeed something to be proud of,” the CEO said.

TJ has been on a major expansion drive in the last few years extending its regional presence with the acquisition of Ocean India in 2015 and acquiring one of the region’s best fabric printing facilities, Quenby Lanka, in the same year.

SriLankan ties with PIA

SriLankan Airlines has entered into a ‘wet lease’ agreement with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), owned by the government of Pakistan, whereby an Airbus A330-300 aircraft will be leased by SriLankan to PIA on Aircraft Crew Maintenance & Insurance (ACMI) basis.

This means that the aircraft will remain under SriLankan registry and be flown by SriLankan/s pilots on behalf of PIA, on the ‘Premier Service’ routes between Pakistan and the UK for a period of three months.

The inaugural flight of this operation will take place on 14th August 2016, from Islamabad to London, following a brief ceremony headed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif. The government of Pakistan and PIA have invited a delegation from Sri Lanka, including Hon. KabirHashim the subject Minister for the airline to attend this event.

Currently, SriLankan is in negotiations with PIA with regard to leasing a total of three aircraft on ‘dry-lease’, without crew, in the coming months. This is part of the company’s “red to black” campaign to bring the airline back to profitability by exploring all commercially viable avenues.

Shishyathwayen Wishishathwaya from Janashakthi

Janashakthi Insurance PLC has launched the second phase of its annual Grade 5 Scholarship program, Shishyathwayen Wishishathwaya, offering free seminars at key locations islandwide to children sitting for the scholarship examination this year.

Chief Executive Officer of Janashakthi Insurance PLC, Jude Fernando said, “We are happy to play an empowering role in the education of young children sitting for the Grade 5 Scholarship examinations via the Janashakthi scholarship program. Children are our future, and as a responsible organisation, we believe that we have a role to play in ensuring that the future of our nation is enriched with educated people.” “We consider it an honour to equip young minds with the knowledge and techniques to develop into well-rounded, intelligent personalities. The Grade 5 Scholarship is considered one of the initial significant examinations in the local school curriculum and as such, we extend our heartfelt best wishes to all students sitting for the exams this year,” he said.

Double win for NDB Capital Holdings Group

NDB Capital Holdings Group (NCAP) secured investment banking awards presented by the Euromoney magazine at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence ceremony in Hong Kong recently.

CEO, NCAP, Vajira Kulatilaka said, “Over the years we as a group have strived to be the best at what we do. What prides me the most is that we have built a culture around excellence and replicate what we have done with NDBIB in our venture in Bangladesh.”

“Our efforts have been recognized with the leadership positions we enjoy in each of the verticals NCAP operates in. Our people are driven by excellence and we will continue to dish out our brand of innovation whilst striving to provide better value to our clients,” he said.

NCAP’s fee-based investment banking operations in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, NDB Investment Bank (NDBIB) and NDB Capital, were crowned as the best investment banks in their respective countries.

This was a rare achievement repeating the feat in 2014, where NCAP emerged as the only investment banking group in Asia to be to be named ‘Best Investment Bank’ in two countries simultaneously.

New Chairman at Plantations Corporation

Gestetner launches modern copiers

Gestetner of Ceylon PLC introduced two types of state-of-the-art Smart Operation Panel copiers manufactured by Ricoh, to the market recently.

The Smart Operation Panel (SOP) copiers - which made their international debut in February 2016 – comprise Ricoh’s popular flagship range of MFPs in addition to its compact, yet highly capable MP 305+SPF black and white smart model.

Each of Ricoh’s flagship printers is equipped with a second-generation 10.1 inch Smart Operation Panel powered by Intel Processors.

Exide partners Gunner Supercross 2016

Exide, the official battery partner at this year’s Gunner Supercross, emerged victorious again. Tyron Hendawitharana won first place at the Group SL-H Standard Cars Subaru Legacy 2200cc (one make).

First introduced to Sri Lanka in 2004, The Artillery Regiment of Sri Lanka has since organised the Gunner Supercross in collaboration with Sri Lanka Auto sports Drivers Association (SLADA).

Deputy General Manager, Browns Battery Division, Ajith de Silva said, “We have had a long-standing relationship with the Gunner Supercross event and its organisers and we are honoured to be in partnership with them.

This year being the seventh consecutive year, we are proud that our racers too never cease to impress us on the track.”

A brand operating in the Battery Division of Brown & Company PLC. The automotive battery manufactured in Sri Lanka has been certified by the SLSI and made to suit the needs of the Sri Lankan consumer. The brand offers a five year warranty and is a maintenance-free, a media release from the company said.

Children’s nutrition supplement in new packaging

CIC Holdings, the sole agent for Abbott Nutrition in Sri Lanka, has introduced PediaSure, a children’s nutrition supplement, to the Sri Lankan market in a new packaging.

Director, CIC Pharmaceuticals, W. S. Premkumar said, “CIC remains committed to offering high quality products to the Sri Lankan market.

This opportunity to offer an excellent children’s nutritional supplement in an attractive package range at a reasonable price from Abbott Nutrition is a milestone for us.”

Senior Manager for Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, Abbott Nutrition International, Subthosh Chaudhry said, “We wanted to expand our market reach to allow a wider range of parents to buy PediaSure for their children and provide them with essential nutrients during their growing years.”