Ceylon Tobacco Company leaps to No. 4 in Business Today Top 25 rankings

Tuesday, 12 November 2013 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) was placed at No. 4 among the top 25 corporates in Sri Lanka by the prestigious Business Today Top 25 Awards, improving three positions from No. 7 last year. The Business Today Top 25 corporates are selected strictly based on the published information of companies listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange. Financial criteria considered include share turnover, revenue, profit after tax, growth in sales turnover, growth in profit, return on equity, growth in earnings per share, market capitalisation, value of shares transacted and value addition. Furthermore, weights are assigned to the criteria uniformly without any prejudice. Contributing factors towards CTC’s high ranking this year are its operational excellence, contribution to the economy and steady financial performance, which also resulted in CTC becoming the largest company quoted on the Colombo Stock Exchange earlier this year.

CTC continues to be one of the largest contributors to State revenue with Rs. 71,200 million in 2012, a significant contribution in light of the government’s need for enhanced resources for national development. Furthermore these results were achieved amid global economic uncertainty, rising costs and domestic pressures. Resilience CTC Chief Executive Officer Felicio Ferraz credited this year’s accomplishment to foresight, hard work and resilience on the part of the employees of CTC. He noted that as a corporate, contributing significant revenue to the nation, CTC’s responsibility towards the people, environment and the country is taken with humility and sensitivity. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Ferraz acknowledged the conducive environment provided by the government for doing business, despite the many challenges faced by the state and corporate Sri Lanka. Everyone at CTC strives on a daily basis to raise the bar of corporate excellence, he explained. “We take great pride in being the only business solely involved in manufacturing, to be consistently listed in the BT Top 25 for many years now. “I am glad that corporate Sri Lanka is able to contribute to the growth of the Sri Lankan economy in a resilient manner despite the challenging global environment.” Social commitment Sustainability and corporate social responsibility are essential components of CTC’s growth strategy and underpins the company’s efforts of being a corporate benchmark in Sri Lanka. Ferraz noted that CTC has consistently and substantially invested in social and economic advancement of rural communities of the country, in the course of the company’s over 100 years of operation in Sri Lanka. The Sustainable Agricultural Development Program, (SADP) CTC’s flagship CSR program has been expanding its reach across the country, in its ambition to make rural families in Sri Lanka economically independent by introducing sustainable home gardening and animal husbandry practices. Launched in 2005, SADP today impacts the lives of over 16,000 families and benefits over 60,000 people in Sri Lanka.