Royal Ceramics...

Royal Ceramics incorporates Australian subsidiary

Leading tile and ceramics manufacturer Royal Ceramics Lanka PLC, as a part of its massive international expansion plan, announced the incorporation of Rocell Pty Ltd in Australia, with an initial investment of Rs.61.5 million (AUS$ 525,000).

“We realized we have to move out of Sri Lanka and expand, because we have enough capacity after we acquired Lanka Tiles PLC and Lanka Ceramics PLC,” Royal Ceramics Managing Director Nimal Perera corresponded with Mirror Business while setting up operations on the ground in Melbourne, Australia. The new company will open its doors this month and will engage in the wholesale and retail aspects of floor tiles, wall tiles and bathware. He said that 5 or 6 outlets will be opened in the major cities of Australia, including Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide. Perera claimed that other than 1 or 2 highly experienced personnel transferred from Sri Lanka, most of the employees of the new company will be formed of Australians and Sri Lankan expatriates.

He also said that the investment was made on the existing capital of the group, instead of borrowings. Australia has been the biggest foreign market for Royal Ceramics, receiving nearly 70 percent of its total exports. Perera said that the existing distribution channels and business dealings in Australia will be continued.

“We didn’t sell our brand much before. We supplied to a lot of companies here which sold our products as their own brand,” he said.

He said that 5 or 6 outlets will be opened in the major cities of Australia, including Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

Further, Royal Ceramics will also be setting up its own operation in the Maldives within the next 4 months, as the island neighbour is its second highest export market.

Perera also said that his group’s Rocell brand may be making an entrance into India; which is its third biggest market.“Lanka Tiles already has a presence in India, but we are evaluating for Rocell. It could happen in the next 2 months,” he commented.

The group for the quarter ending June made a profit of Rs.161 million, which was a disappointment following the Rs.760 million profit in the preceding quarter, but a 302 percent growth compared to the Rs.80 million loss for the quarter ending June last year.

Perera however implied that the quarter ending September showed tremendous growth. “The statements will be published this week. There’ll be a huge difference compared to our previous quarter,” he said. Business magnate Dhammika Perera maintains a 51 percent ownership of Royal Ceramics through Vallibel One PLC.

(CF)