Colombo, Sri Lanka – June 10th, 2021 –
Orient Finance PLC reported a profit before tax of LKR 193 Mn for the 2020-21 financial year, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 144 per cent. The company’s net operating income also increased 148 per cent from LKR 0.47 Bn to LKR 1.17 Bn during the year under review.
This performance was despite the Company foregoing LKR 243 Mn in interest income for the 2020-21 financial year as a result of concessions granted by the CBSL due to COVID.
“The Covid – 19 pandemic continues to pose complex and interconnected challenges to all industries across the country. In today’s challenging economic times, focusing on customers and understanding their needs has become the cornerstone of success for Orient Finance. Our timely response to challenges, leadership of our CEO and management team, the dedication of our staff and digitalization initiatives largely contributed to our consistent performance even during such trying times. We hope to sustain our strategic efforts and provide the best returns for our customers, employees and most importantly our shareholders,” said Anil Tittawella, Chairman of Orient Finance PLC.
Orient Finance’s net assets per share increased from LKR 12.84 to LKR 13.67 while its share price increased from LKR 6.10 to LKR 13.90 when compared to last year. In February 2020, in order to meet the capital adequacy requirements, the Company issued 35,183,526 ordinary voting shares in the proportion of 01 new ordinary voting shares for every 05 ordinary voting shares in the capital of the Company raising LKR 506,642,774.“Due to the prevailing situation and the decline in economic activity we will continue to realign our business strategies to move forward as we navigate the new normal ushered in by the pandemic. We must remain true to our customers and support them in difficult times. We have guided our front-line staff to have regular communication with our customers to identify their actual requirements, share knowledge and overall, make customers feel valued and important. Our performance this year reflects our focus on providing win-win solutions to our customers for a long-term mutual gain. Furthermore, we firmly believe that as a member of Janashakthi Group our growth strategies will be further strengthened enabling us to maintain this growth momentum,” said K.M.M. Jabir, Director and Chief Executive Officer of Orient Finance PLC.