Top honours for Commercial Bank, Hayleys and DIMO at CA Sri Lanka’s 53rd Annual Report Awards

Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc won the coveted ‘Cyril Gardiner Memorial Trophy’ Gold Award for Overall Excellence in Annual Financial Reporting at the grand finale of the 53rd Annual Report Awards competition organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka).

Hayleys Plc came in second, bagging the silver award for overall excellence in financial reporting, while Diesel and Motor Engineering Plc (DIMO) won the bronze award in the same category.

Leading blue chip companies, conglomerates to SMEs and small time community groups were honoured at a gala ceremony held on 5 December for their excellence in financial reporting, which was held under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

Commercial Bank also won gold under the Management Commentary Award category, while DIMO won silver and People’s Leasing and Finance Plc won bronze. The Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting category gold award was won by People’s Leasing and Finance, while Mercantile Investments and Finance Plc won the silver and National Development Bank Plc (NDB) won the bronze. NDB also won gold for Corporate Governance Disclosure, while Union Assurance Plc won silver and Hatton National Bank Plc (HNB) won bronze.

DIMO also won the gold award for Integrated Reporting, while LB Finance Plc won silver and John Keells Holdings Plc (JKH) bagged bronze. The Best Disclosure on Capital Management in the Integrated Reporting category was won by LB Finance, which was awarded a gold, while Commercial Bank received the silver and DIMO bagged the bronze. Peoples Leasing and Finance won gold for Best Disclosure on Business Model under the Integrated Reporting category, while JKH won silver and Hayleys won bronze.

Under the sector awards, Hayleys won gold for the Diversified Holdings for groups of above 10 subsidiaries, while DIMO won gold for the Diversified Holdings for groups up to 10 subsidiaries. Commercial Bank bagged the gold in the Banking Institutions sector, and Bank of Ceylon won the gold under State Banks. Nawaloka Hospitals Plc won gold for Healthcare Institutions, and Hayleys Advantis Ltd. won the gold for Service Organisations. 

Sri Lanka Telecom Plc won gold for Telecommunications Companies, and the National School of Business Management Ltd., won gold in the State Corporations and Statutory Boards category. United Motors Lanka Plc won gold under Motor Companies, and L B Finance won gold under the Finance Companies and Leasing Companies (totals asset above Rs. 20 billion) sector, while Singer Finance Lanka Plc won the gold for the Finance Companies and Leasing Companies (total assets up to Rs. 20 billion) sector.

Singer Sri Lanka Plc won the gold for Trading Companies and the Nuwara Eliya Hotels Company Plc won gold under Hotel Companies. Talawakelle Tea Estates Plc won gold under the Plantation Companies sector and Dipped Products Plc won gold under Manufacturing Companies with a turnover of above Rs. 5 billion, while Alumex Plc won gold under Manufacturing Companies with a turnover of up to Rs. 5 billion.

HNB Assurance Plc won gold under Insurance Companies, Keells Food products Plc won gold for Food and Beverages Companies, Berandina Microfinance Institute (GTE) Ltd. won gold for the Not for Profit Organisations including the NGOs sector, while Seylan Developments Plc won gold for Land and Property Companies.

Access Engineering Plc won gold for Construction Companies, while Laugfs Gas Plc won gold under Power and Energy Companies and Lankaclear Ltd. won gold for the Small and Medium Sized Entities sector.

Speaking at the event, CA Sri Lanka President Lasantha Wickremasinghe said transparency, accountability and good governance were vital for both the public and private sectors, as it was interconnected with a country’s growth and development. 

“The national government under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was built on the premise of good governance, and as a responsible professional organisation in the country, CA Sri Lanka too has implemented a series of initiatives from within the institute to enhance good governance which will reflect on the accounting profession, its professionals and ultimately the country,” he said.

Wickremasinghe said that good governance, transparency and accountability should not only be expected from a government, and instead even professionals, as citizens of this country, must learn to be responsible to the country.

He also recalled how the institute adopted the Responding to Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations (NOCLAR) standard in Sri Lanka, on the very same day it became effective internationally, to ensure every member of CA Sri Lanka was in line with the latest international ethics standard.  “I personally believe that NOCLAR is a revolutionary ethical requirement that all professional accountants must adhere to, specially as it is a standard that has been adopted in the public interest in the event of any non-compliance or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations,” Wickremasinghe said. He added that his institute was creating change not by word but by practice.

Speaking at the event, Annual Report Awards Committee Chairman Sanjaya Bandara said 140 companies took part in this year’s competition, representing multinationals, conglomerates and even NPOs and NGOs. 

“Selecting the best is never an easy task, and in our quest for excellence we carried out a three-tier process of evaluation in which more than 300 resource personnel were involved to ensure we selected the best reports,” he said.

Explaining further, Bandara said that during the first tier the reports were evaluated by a technical marking panel comprising 230 chartered accountants, and during the second tier, which was called the ‘industry expert marking panel’, some 60 members representing diverse industries were brought in who broadly looked at economic, social and industry specific disclosures made in the annual reports.

“Finally, the annual reports were evaluated by the final panel of judges headed by the Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy who was supported by a distinguished panel of judges,” he added.