Financial Times

Former radio personality spearheads "not for profit" investments

By Akhry Ameer
A former leading radio personality is planning to raise nearly $ 250 million worth of foreign investments under a "not for profit" venture in the country.

As the funding representative of NMN Consultants Limited, London, former SLBC presenter Rajan Vairawanathan has identified Sri Lanka as a potential investment destination having convinced investors of its political stability and success of the peace process.

Around $250 million has been identified for three separate projects comprising a hospital, ceramic factory and a stadium complex from "not for profit" funds of the Dragon Administration Foundation of Maastricht. NMN Consultants is the sole representative carrying out the financial management of the Dragon Foundation for which Vairawanathan works as the funding representative in six countries.

"The conditions are conducive for investments in Sri Lanka," said Vairawanathan of the planned investments. The former radio personality has also been overseeing the funding activities of NMN Consultants in Egypt for the last four years. Other countries under his purview include the UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, the Maldive Islands, India and Sri Lanka. Vairawanathan was of the view that the previous PA administration did not receive his proposals well and hence he couldn't promote investments in the country.

The Dragon Administration Foundation is a large scale investor involved in funding infrastructure projects in countries where organizations are unable to obtain aid facilities and collateral. The foundation also carries out commercial ventures, besides not for profit ventures. However, any venture should focus on community development as part of its policy, he said.

The projects in Sri Lanka will initially cover a $60 million worth modern ceramic tile factory in a venture with Sooriarachchi Holdings. The project once commissioned will serve the community in the area by way of employment and infrastructure facilities. A 500-bed hospital is also being planned outside Colombo with a total investment of $40 million. One hundred beds of the hospital will be reserved for the poor, with medical services free of charge using the most modern facilities. Further $150 million of the foundation funds are being negotiated with the government to set up stadium facilities in identified districts outside Colombo.

The funds are disbursed either in the form of a joint venture or a soft loan, where the foundation's holdings are handed back free to the other investors upon recovery of the initial investment by the foundation.

Vairawanathan, earlier implicated in an arms deal but subsequently cleared of all charges, has over the past few years maintained a low profile running tea plantations and a tea brokering company as part of the family business. He has based the representative office of NMN Consultants in Sri Lanka and hopes to further his personal business interests in the plantation sector.

ComBank's debenture, preference share issues oversubscribed

Commercial Bank said last week that its initial issue of both Rs. 2 billion worth of unsecured, subordinated redeemable debentures and Rs. 500 million worth of cumulative redeemable preference shares were oversubscribed on the opening day itself.

The Rs. 2 billion worth of debentures were oversubscribed by the time of closure on May 6 by Rs. 220 million while preference shares too were oversubscribed by more than Rs. 530 million, the bank said.

The bank said that the enthusiasm towards the issue was a clear expression of the high degree of confidence the investing public has placed in the strength and stability of the bank.

The bank said it planned to accommodate the excess subscriptions for the debentures under the option available as per the prospectus instead of pro-rating the allotments. However, in the case of preference shares, the similar option available too is insufficient to accommodate the total subscriptions. Therefore the bank is compelled to work out a basis of allotment of shares, the statement added.

Bonus windfall for Ceylinco Life policyholders

Ceylinco Life has announced the disbursement of a record Rs. 330 million in bonuses to policyholders for 2002, following the results of an actuarial valuation of the company's Life Fund.

The company said in a statement that more than 133,000 policyholders would receive these bonus payments, which reflect the financial stability and strong financial performance of Ceylinco Life.

The actuarial valuation of the company's Life Fund, which stood at Rs. 6.9 billion as at December 31, 2002, shows that Ceylinco Life's solvency margin is more than three times the minimum level required by statute. The Life Fund grew by 32 percent in 2002, recording a healthy surplus from which bonus payments are made.

Ceylinco Life's annual actuarial valuation of its Life Fund is independently certified by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a leading international firm of actuarial consultants.

"These bonus payments, the growth of our Life Fund and our sector-leading performance of more than a decade are the best indicators of the health of the company," Ceylinco Life Director/General Manager, R. Renganathan said. "We are encouraged to better these results in the current year."

Ms. Amali Seneviratne the company's Director/Actuary, said a significant feature of Ceylinco Life's bonus payments is that they reflect the company's commitment to consistently deliver more than promised to policyholders. Citing an example, she said a policy maturing after 15 years in 2003 with a guaranteed sum assured at maturity of Rs. 100,000 would actually receive a maturity value of Rs. 167,900, or 67.9 percent more than the promised value.

Coca-Cola's smooth promotion

'Rhythm Catch' the ongoing consumer promotion by Coca-Cola Beverages Distributors (Pvt) Ltd has so far touched and refreshed millions of Sri Lankan consumers, the company said.

The promotion, on till May 31, is creating winners every day, giving one in six people a chance of winning any one of the exciting range of prizes on offer. Every finder of a crown in any one of the products that come within the promotion can redeem the prize at the nearest Singer showroom. The total value of prizes to be won is over Rs. 9 million while five of the lucky winners stand the chance of winning a state-of-the-art Singer home theater system worth Rs. 50,000 each.

CCC's reliable database for foreign, local business

The updated edition of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Members' Directory titled, "Directory of Members 2003" (CD-ROM and the printed version), was launched at the recent IMEXPRO 2003 trade fair.

This directory is a comprehensive listing of CCC members and has details of their business activities. It has become a popular ready reckoner to business organizations in Sri Lanka and has been established as a reliable database for local and global trade contacts.

The CCC said it published the updated version of its members' directory to cater to the urgent need for accurate data on the leaders in the Sri Lankan business community and related socio-economic information.

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