Hayleys PLC crowned winner at CA Sri Lanka’s Annual Report Awards
Hayleys PLC triumphed at the 54th Annual Report Awards winning the coveted ‘Cyril Gardiner Memorial Trophy’ Gold Award for Overall Excellence in Annual Financial Reporting at the grand finale held this week.
John Keells Holdings PLC won the silver award, while Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC came in third with the bronze award under the same category.
The event organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) was held at the Shangrila Hotel, Colombo under the patronage of the Governor of Central Bank Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy.
Under the ‘Management Commentary Award’ Hayleys PLC won gold, while Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC came in second to win the silver award and Softlogic Life Insurance PLC won bronze.
This year the organisers received applications from a wide range of organisations including conglomerates to multinationals as well as small and medium-sized enterprises and nonprofit organisations who vied for the prestigious awards, which spans a history of over half a century.
Under the sector awards, John Keells Holdings PLC and Hayleys PLC shared the ‘Lal Jayasundara Memorial Trophy’ gold award for ‘Diversified Holdings (Groups above 10 Subsidiaries)’ sector, while Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC won the gold for ‘Diversified Holdings (Groups up to 10 Subsidiaries).
Speaking at the event, Chief Guest Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said that the CA Sri Lanka Annual Report Awards Competition has become an important landmark in the corporate calendar of the country.
President of CA Sri Lanka, Jagath Perera said that as Sri Lanka inches towards upper middle income status, the professional community and corporates, have an important role to play in our country’s forward journey, by conscientiously promoting transparency, accountability and good governance which are important cornerstones for any developing economy.
“In this journey, producing precise and transparent annual reports in line with the highest global standards should also remain at the top of the agenda of any organisation immaterial of its standing or stature in the business world, as financial reporting also has a long term bearing on both a company and country,” he said.
Chairman of the Annual Report Awards Committee, Heshana Kuruppu said that the event truly showcases the commitment that all corporates have shown towards the maintenance of very high reporting standards and transparency. “Hearty congratulations to all the winning corporates. You have definitely set an admiring benchmark for others to follow. We hope, that you achieve brilliance in all your endeavors,” he said.
This year the organisers received over 130 applications. The evaluation of annual reports were carried out over a period of 3 month process and involved over 300 plus professionals, industry experts, academia and business leaders.