Singer Sri Lanka has achieved outstanding recognition at the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Best Presented Annual Report Awards, Integrated Reporting Awards, and SAARC Anniversary Awards for Corporate Governance Disclosures Competition 2022.
Singer secured the prestigious Gold Award for the third consecutive year in the Service Sector (Excluding Financial Services & Communication & IT) category. This remarkable accomplishment reflects the company’s unwavering commitment to transparency, accountability, and governance in annual reporting.
The evaluation process, conducted by SAFA’s esteemed committee, focused on enhancing transparency, accountability, and governance in the published Annual Reports of entities across South Asian countries. Singer Sri Lanka’s success in clinching the Gold Award underscores the exceptional quality and excellence embedded in their annual reporting practices.
The awards ceremony took place at the Hotel Radisson Blu, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. The event served as a platform to celebrate and honor organizations that have demonstrated excellence in their reporting standards.
In expressing his gratitude, Mr. Mahesh Wijewardene, CEO of Singer Group of Companies, remarked, “This recognition is a testament to our continuous pursuit of excellence in reporting standards. It reflects the tireless efforts of our team and our unwavering commitment to transparency and accountability.”
Furthermore, Mr. Shalinka Seresinhe, Finance Director at Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC, added, “Winning the Gold Award in the Service Sector is a reflection of our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance, transparency and accountability in our financial reporting practices. We are honored to be recognized for our efforts in this prestigious competition.”
Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC, a leading name in the Sri Lankan business sphere, has been at the forefront of providing innovative and reliable solutions to its customers for over decades. With a commitment to excellence, integrity, and community engagement, Singer continues to be a trusted partner in the lives of Sri Lankan consumers.
Pioneering healthcare provider Nawaloka Hospitals, recently secured the highly coveted gold award for exceptional integrated financial reporting practices within the healthcare sector, at the CA Sri Lanka’s 56th Annual Report Awards.
This marks the sixth year the hospital chain was presented with this prestigious accolade, affirming their strength and proactive drive in promoting transparency, accountability, good governance, and social responsibility even amidst the challenging business climate coloured by a global pandemic.
“The brilliant performance of Nawaloka Hospitals at the CA Sri Lanka Annual Report Awards 2021 stands testament to the firm commitment that we have made to adhering to the highest standards of integrated financial reporting for many years now. Integrated reporting is particularly important to healthcare companies as we deal in transparency, trust and social responsibility of the highest levels with all our stakeholders. This attitude sees our team constantly geared to adhere to best-in-class practices and standards in reporting prevailing across the world. I would like to congratulate our passionate, deeply dedicated team on this well-deserved victory,” Nawaloka Hospitals Chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa stated.
Nawaloka Hospital’s Integrated Annual Report voluntarily embraces global benchmarks such as the ‘International <IIRC> Framework’ and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standard ‘Core’ options. This is part of the company’s vision to share its journey of value creation with all its stakeholders by adopting the Six Capital Reporting Framework, under the Integrated Reporting Framework.
The prestigious CA Sri Lanka Awards aim to reflect effectiveness in the communication of financial and non-financial information to stakeholders and strict compliance with legislative requirements and accepted accounting best practices. In evaluating reports for the awards, CA Sri Lanka looks at each contender’s ability to effectively communicate organisational objectives, highlights, performance, personnel and management to all relevant stakeholders.
Some of Sri Lanka’s top corporates, including conglomerates, were honoured on Thursday night at the Grand Finale of the 56th Annual Report Awards, organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) for their resilience and perseverance in promoting transparency, accountability, good governance, and social responsibility amidst the new pandemic-influenced business climate.
Mr. Chaaminda Kumarasiri, Chairman of the Annual Report Awards Committee delivering the welcome speech.
John Keells Holdings PLC was crowned the gold winner for Overall Excellence in Annual Financial Reporting winning the coveted ‘Cyril Gardiner Memorial Trophy’ while Hayleys PLC and Softlogic Life Insurance PLC shared the silver award, and both LB Finance PLC and Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC bagged the bronze awards for overall excellence in financial reporting.
Mr. Manil Jayesinghe, President of CA Sri Lanka addressing the gathering.
The gala ceremony was held under the patronage of Mr. Viraj Dayaratne, President’s Counsel, and Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, Mr. Manil Jayesinghe, President of CA Sri Lanka, Mr. Dumith Fernando, Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange, Mr. Sanjaya Bandara, Vice President of CA Sri Lanka, Mr. Chaaminda Kumarasiri, Chairman of the Annual Report Awards Committee; Ms. Chamila Cooray, Alternate Chair of the Annual Report Awards Committee, Mr. Rajeeva Bandaranaike, Chief Executive Officer of the Colombo Stock Exchange and Ms. Dulani Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of CA Sri Lanka.
Over 70 companies, ranging from conglomerates, multinationals to non-profit organisations, and SMEs, were honoured at this year’s competition for their excellence in financial reporting.
John Keells Holdings also won the Management Commentary Award, while Hayleys won the silver and LB Finance won the bronze. Under the Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Award category, LB Finance won the gold, while John Keells Holdings and Hayleys shared the silver, and Softlogic Life Insurance PLC walked away with the bronze.
Commercial Bank bagged the gold under the Corporate Governance Disclosure Award category, while LB Finance won the silver, and National Development Bank PLC won the bronze.
Corporates that adopted integrated reporting were also honored at the grand finale held at BMICH, which was attended by business leaders and c-suite executives. John Keells Holdings PLC and Hayleys PLC shared the gold prize in the Integrated Reporting Award category, while National Development Bank won the silver and Softlogic Life Insurance won the bronze.
The gold award for Integrated Reporting: Best Disclosure on Capital Management was won by National Development Bank, while L B Finance won the silver and Commercial Bank of Ceylon won the bronze. The Integrated Reporting: Best Disclosure on Business Model category gold award was bagged by John Keells Holdings, while Hayleys won the silver and Softlogic Insurance walked away with the bronze.
John Keells Holdings also bagged the gold award under Integrated Reporting: Best Disclosure on Stakeholder Engagement category, while Hayleys won the silver and Softlogic Life Insurance walked away with the bronze.
For the first time in the history of the competition, a special award in recognition of the Most Transformative and Digitalised Annual Report was conferred at the grand finale, with L B Finance PLC winning the special award.
At the awards, Aitken Spence PLC, Bank of Ceylon, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC, Hatton National Bank PLC, Hayleys PLC, John Keells Holdings PLC, L B Finance PLC, National Development Bank PLC, and Softlogic Life Insurance PLC were recognised as the top 10 companies at this year’s competition.
In his speech, Mr. Manil Jayesinghe said that the annual report is the single most important document for readers and potential investors to understand the financial state of a company as well as its positive contribution not only to the company’s bottom line but also to the country and society.
“Known to promote transparency, corporate governance, sustainability and social responsibility for over half a century, the competition’s importance does not need to be underscored, specially in a post COVID-19 scenario, as businesses navigate through this challenging time,” he said.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Chaaminda Kumarasiri said that the competition has played a key role in strengthening Sri Lanka’s financial landscape, whilst also ensuring that the country boasts a world-class accounting framework which is in line with international standards.
“A fundamental advantage of the competition is that it has also helped organisations producing annual reports to transform their reporting methodology and style, helping investors and other stakeholders gain better insight into the organisation’s operations, and achievements,” Mr. Kumarasiri said.
Under the sector awards, John Keells Holdings won the ‘Lal Jayasundara Memorial Trophy’ under the Diversified Holdings (Groups Above 10 Subsidiaries) category, while Diesel & Motor Engineering won the gold under the Diversified Holdings (Groups up to 10 Subsidiaries) sector.
The gold award under the banking institutions sector was won by Commercial Bank of Ceylon which bagged the ‘Edmand J Cooray Memorial Trophy’ while under the state bank sector, Bank of Ceylon won the ‘Albert A. Page Memorial Trophy.’
Nawaloka Hospitals PLC won the gold award under the healthcare sector, while Hayleys Advantis Limited won the gold under the service organisations sector, and Sri Lanka Telecom PLC won the gold under telecommunications, while United Motors Lanka PLC bagged the gold award under Motor Companies.
L B Finance won the gold in the Finance Companies & Leasing Companies (Total Asset Above LKR 20 BN) sector, and Prime Finance PLC won the gold in the Finance Companies & Leasing Companies (Total Asset up to LKR 20 BN) sector. Singer Sri Lanka PLC walked away with the gold under the trading companies sector, while Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC bagged the gold award under the hotel sector.
Under the plantation companies’ sector, the gold award was shared by Kelani Valley Plantations PLC and Talawakelle Tea Estates PLC, while Royal Ceramics Lanka PLC and Dipped Products PLC shared the gold under Manufacturing Companies (Turnover Above LKR 5 BN), while Samson International PLC walked away with the gold under Manufacturing Companies (Turnover up to LKR 5 BN).
Softlogic Life Insurance won the gold under insurance companies, and Ceylon Cold Stores PLC won the gold under Food & Beverages Companies. In the Not-For-Profit Organisations (NPO) Including Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) sector, the Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka won the gold, and R I L Property PLC won the gold under Land & Property Companies.
Access Engineering PLC walked away with the gold under the Construction Sector, while Lanka IOC PLC and Laugfs Gas PLC jointly won the gold award under Power & Energy. Oxford College of Business Pvt Ltd won the gold under the Small and Medium Sized Entities category, while Capital Alliance Holdings Limited walked away with the gold under the Investment Banking sector.
The prestigious Annual Report Awards Competition organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), is set to make a grand comeback this year with a series of relaxations which will immensely benefit the participating companies amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic.
The Annual Report Awards Competition which stakes claim to an inspiring history spanning over 55 years, was cancelled in 2020 on account of the pandemic and the related challenges the corporate world faced due to the lockdowns and the economic crisis.
President of CA Sri Lanka Mr. Manil Jayesinghe said that the Institute took into consideration the difficulties the corporates faced last year amidst the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and therefore decided against proceeding with the Annual Report Awards for the first time in the competition’s history, because the competition would not have yielded the required benefits for the participating companies.
“But I am delighted to announce that the Annual Report Awards Competition will make a comeback this year, incorporating a series of changes in relation to corporate reporting,” Mr. Jayesinghe said.
At present, the Annual Report Awards Competition revolves around a stringent three-tier evaluation process where the reports are reviewed by a Technical Panel, a Panel of Industry Experts, and subsequently, by the Final Panel of Judges comprising of eminent accountants, as well as regulatory authorities and academia.
Chairman of the Annual Report Awards Committee Mr. Chaaminda Kumarasiri said that CA Sri Lanka has been collating feedback from numerous stakeholders directly and indirectly connected to the competition on how to improve the competition further to ensure the competition continues to be a catalyst in corporate reporting.
“Based on the feedback we have received, the Annual Report Awards Committee has decided to make certain relaxations for the competition in 2021, which will benefit the participating companies immensely at the competition this year,” he said.
Further, CA Sri Lanka, in its capacity as the sole authority in promulgating accounting and auditing standards in the country, will also publish the New Guidelines for the Presentation of Annual Reports which will be an important publication for companies when developing their financial reports for this year.
CA Sri Lanka has played a catalyst role in promoting transparency, social responsibility and corporate governance amongst corporates by organising the Annual Report Awards Competition for over half a century. The competition has also contributed immensely towards enhancing the country’s financial landscape, while promoting multi-nationals, conglomerates as well as small and medium businesses to produce high quality annual reports that are cohesive, clear and go beyond the statutory boundaries of reporting.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) takes great pride in being the change makers of Sri Lanka’s accounting arena. For over six long decades, CA Sri Lanka has been the vanguard in developing the accounting profession in Sri Lanka, while also playing a critical role in South Asia to ensure the profession continues to be an important catalyst in the success of the region.
Chartered Accountants produced by CA Sri Lanka are considered a brand of unique and versatile professionals, with the ability to steer any business successfully, due to their exceptional technical and perceptive skills, as well as financial discipline and out of the box thinking. A significant percentage of CA Sri Lanka’s members play an influential role across the dynamic corporate world holding distinguished leadership positions.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) hosted the 24th SAFA Best Presented Annual Reports (BPA) Awards Ceremony in Colombo last week with 16 Sri Lankan companies bagging awards for excellence in financial reporting in South Asia.
The SAFA BPA Awards organised by the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) is considered the most prestigious accolade for financial reporting in the South Asian region and has played a catalyst role in promoting excellence and effective communication in the presentation of high-quality, relevant, reliable and objective financial and non-financial information for over two decades.
This year, 85 companies from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka vied for honours. Bangladesh’s Reliance Insurance Limited was adjudged the overall winner of the 24th SAFA BPA Awards, while Bangladesh also bagged the most number of awards at the event.
Bangladesh received 20 awards, Sri Lanka secured 16 awards, Pakistan received eight awards, while India received two awards and Nepal received one award. The event adopted a hybrid format, combining physical attendance and virtual participation. SAFA Member Bodies from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal connected to the proceedings in Colombo virtually, while also organising awards ceremonies to honour the respective recipients of their countries. The Sri Lankan winners were honoured at a special event held at CA Sri Lanka.
Vice President of SAFA Mr. A.K.M. Delwer Hussain, President of CA Sri Lanka Mr. Manil Jayesinghe and Chairman of the SAFA Committee for Improvement in Transparency, Accountability and Governance Mr. Heshana Kuruppu addressed the event in Colombo.
Companies were awarded under 11 industries covering: Private Sector Banks, Public Sector Banks, Insurance Sector, Financial Services, Communication & Information Technology, Service (Excluding Financial Services & Communication & IT Sector), NGOs (Including NPOs), Manufacturing, Public Sector, Agriculture and Diversified Holdings. SAFA also recognised companies for corporate governance and integrated reporting, while a large number of companies also received certificates of merit.
Three Sri Lankan companies were honoured with gold awards at the SAFA BPA Awards. National Savings Bank won the gold award for the Public Sector banks category, while The Nuwara Eliya Hotels Company PLC bagged the gold award under the Service category (Excluding Financial Services & Communication & IT Sector). Talawakelle Tea Estates PLC was adjudged the joint winner for the Agriculture category.
Among the other Sri Lankan companies which were honoured at this year’s event with awards and certificates were: Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, Hatton National Bank PLC, National Development Bank PLC, Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank, Union Assurance PLC, Softlogic Life Insurance PLC, HNB Assurance PLC, LB Finance PLC, Mercantile Investment & Finance PLC, People’s Leasing & Finance PLC, Lanka Walltiles PLC, Alumex PLC, Dipped Products PLC, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, John Keells Hotel PLC, Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Watawala Plantations PLC, Namunukula Plantations PLC, John Keells Holdings PLC and Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC.
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, Hatton National Bank PLC and Softlogic Life Insurance PLC received certificates of merit for the SAARC Anniversary Award for Corporate Governance category, while Softlogic Life Insurance PLC was adjusted first runner-up in the integrated reporting category, and John Keells Holdings PLC and Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC also received certificates of merit for the same category.
SAFA was formed in 1984 to promote the accounting profession in South Asia and internationally with a mission to bring the accounting bodies in the region together at a common forum and facilitate professional cooperation in the areas of education, training, technical and ethical standards. SAFA has been organizing the BPA Awards since 1997. The Awards under different categories are conferred following a strict evaluation.
Congratulating the companies which won, Mr. Jayesinghe also highlighted that these companies have a critical role to play in helping revive the region in a post COVID scenario. “The ongoing COVID pandemic has heightened the need for companies producing annual reports to be one step ahead, instead of limiting the report to conventional expectations. Ultimately, business agility will continue to be a fundamental change maker in this crisis,” he added.
Mr. Heshana Kuruppu said that despite the challenging circumstance the corporate world faced this year following COVID, it was encouraging to receive applications from 85 companies from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka for the competition. “The awards under different categories are conferred based on a stringent evaluation administered by the SAFA Committee for Improvement in Transparency, Accountability & Governance which is chaired by CA Sri Lanka,” he added.
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (December 14, 2017): Renowned market leader in tile and bathware manufacturing, Royal Ceramics Lanka PLC recently won the Silver award in the Manufacturing Organizations (Turnover above LKR 5 BN) category at the 53rd Annual Report Awards competition organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka). The event was held at the BMICH with Prime Minster Ranil Wickramsinghe gracing the event as its chief guest.
The Annual Report Awards competition of CA Sri Lanka is the most prestigious competition for Annual Reports in the country. The event has helped to enhance financial reporting standards in Sri Lanka, keeping them in line with globally acceptable benchmarks.
Known for its quest for elegance and luxury living, Royal Ceramics Lanka PLC is revolutionizing the interior design landscape, both at home and around the world. It is this attitude towards achieving ground-breaking results in all aspects of their business that propelled the company to commit towards producing precise, integrated financial reports in line with the highest global standards.
“We are proud to be recognized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka for our excellence in annual reporting. Our dedicated team works year-round to make sure that our reports are always cohesive, transparent, and clear. This award is a reflection of our good governance practices, ethical operations and commitment to our stakeholders.” said Mr. Aravinda Perera, Managing Director, Royal Ceramics Lanka PLC. The organization received a similar accolade for their financial reporting by the same awarding body (CA Sri Lanka) in the year 2015.
This is the first integrated report produced by Royal Ceramics Lanka PLC, reflecting globally recognized reporting practices including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Guidelines to present its economic, social and environmental performance to all stakeholders involved with the business.
This year’s 53rd Annual Report Awards revolved around the theme ‘Quintessence of Eminence’ and recognized annual reports which carried core elements of transparency, good governance, and social responsibility while going beyond the statutory boundaries of reporting.
(L-R) Mr. Sanjaya Bandara – Chairman of the Annual Report Awards Committee; Mr. U H Palihakkara - Past President of CA Sri Lanka; Mr. Lasantha Wickremasinghe - President of CA Sri Lanka; Mr. Channa de Silva - GM/CEO of LankaClear (Pvt) Ltd; and Mr. Rasika Galappaththy - Head of Finance LankaClear Pvt Ltd.
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