UMLL to deliver range of Mitsubishi vehicles

by L. S. A. Wedaarachchi

United Motors Lanka Ltd (UMLL) which enjoys a market share of over 50 percent of the brand new Japanese trucks in Sri Lanka plans to deliver an exciting range of Mitsubishi vehicles in the near future.

UMLL recently launched the all new Mitsubishi L 200 Triton in Sri Lanka. According to the CEO/Executive Director UMLL, Chanaka Yatawara the recent launch comes eight years after the last double cab launch in Sri Lanka.

"The Triton is a state of the art version of the double cabs available here and worldwide. It has been developed as a global strategic model by Mitsubishi through a series of improvements compared to the previous models marketed by them, he said.

United Motors in partnership with the Mitsubishi Motor company, Japan said this is only the beginning of an exciting year ahead. In the next 12 months we hope to introduce several new models of the latest vehicles to Sri Lanka, Yatawara said.

The Mitsubishi Motor Company is one of the leading vehicle manufacturers in Japan. It manufactures a range of vehicles including cars, vans, trucks, heavy vehicles and buses. Highly diversified in the vehicle manufacturing field, it has vehicle producing plants all over the world. Mitsubishi's new products included the Mitsubishi Colt which was launched in the early part of 2006. The Montero Sport was re-launched to meet the heavy demand for vehicles. The remarkable significance is the increase in demand for the L 200 double cab which is competitively priced compared to other leading brands.

UMLL achieved its best financial results in the six months ended September 30, 2006. The company and the group as a whole achieved a significant profit for the first half of any financial year. The UMLL turnover was Rs. 1,752.8 million which reflects a growth of 37.5 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

UMLL earned a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 163.3 million for the half year compared with Rs. 105.6 million earned in the first half of 2005/2006. Whilst the total gross profit of the company had increased over the first half of the last financial year by 28 percent further improvements in working capital management has led to reduced bank borrowing and a consequent reduction in financing costs by 42.3 percent. Its combined effort facilitated a net profit growth of 54.6 percent.

UMLL's subsidiary companies and jointly controlled entities, namely Orient Motor Company Ltd, Unimo Enterprises Ltd, UML Agency and Distributors, Orient Financial Services Corporation, UML Property Development Ltd and TVS Lanka Ltd recorded a considerable improvement. As a result, group turnover of Rs. 3005.7 million and group profit after tax and minority interest of Rs. 193.6 million reflected a growth of 32.4 percent and 62.2 percent compared to the first half of last financial year.

Jointly controlled entity TVS Lanka (Pvt) Ltd expanded its sales network by opening a new branch at Colombo 5 and appointing several new dealers. TVS and motor-cycles now account for 20 percent of the two wheeler market in Sri Lanka. The company earned a profit after tax of Rs. 15.5 million during the first six months of the financial year.

Outlining future plans of UMLL, Yatawara said that the company is determined to further consolidate the business in the core areas of selling Mitsubishi vehicles and providing a better after sales service to Mitsubishi vehicle owners.

"We will focus our attention to develop the subsidiary companies which should yield a higher return on the parent company's investment."

"The business portfolios that each of the subsidiaries hold need to be developed to their full potential so that the group can achieve a sustainable rate of growth facilitating a consistent return of shareholders. Hitherto, nearly all of our diversification efforts have been confined to the automobile industry and related areas.

The company will look for other operations of suitable opportunities which exist elsewhere, he said. United Motors Limited was incorporated as a private company in 1945. Vested by the government in 1972 it began operating as the government owned business undertaking of United Motors Ltd. In 1985 UMC entered into a distributor agreement with the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan and emerged a market leader for Japanese vehicle imports to Sri Lanka.

In 1989 UMC was selected as the first government venture for peoplisation to encourage a widespread share ownership, among the people. United Motors Lanka Ltd was set up in May 1989 and incorporated as a public limited liability company.

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