Amitha Gooneratne new Melstacorp CEO?
The soon-to-retire banker Amitha Gooneratne is tipped to be the new Chief Executive Officer of Harry Jaywardena’s unlisted holding company, Melstacorp, informed sources told Mirror Business.
This speculation has been further fuelled by the appoint- ment of Gooneratne as an Independent-non Executive Director of Melstacorp, according to the company’s official website.
Analysts point out that Melstacorp will replace the Distilleries PLC as the holding company for Harry J’s various business interests. At present, Melstacop operates as a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of Distilleries.
As Mirror Business exclusively reported, Melstacorp recently incorporated a finance company under the name Melsta Regal Finance. According to the Central Bank website, Melsta Regal Finance has been recently given the license to operate as a Registered Finance Company.
It was announced in February along with the appointment of a new Chairman to the Commercial Bank PLC, Sri Lanka’s largest private bank that Amitha would retire from the top post end of April.
Melstacorp has now become the holding company of Harry J’s number of business ventures, holding controlling stakes of both listed and unlisted companies ranging from sugar manufacturing to insurance and finance.
The director board of Melstacorp consists of Harry Jayawrdena (Chairman), R.K Obeysekera (Non-independent, Non-executive Director), C.R Janz (Executive Director), N.DE.S Deva Aditya (Independent, Non-executive Director), Captain K.J Kahanda (Executive Director), C.F Fernando (Independent, Non-executive Director), Dr. Naomal Balasuriya (Independent, Non-executive Director), V.J Senaratne (Secretary and Chief Legal Officer) and Amitha Gooneratatne (Independent, NonExecutive Director).