The Finance records satisfactory results in 2011/2012

The Finance Company PLC (TFC) which is built on a formidable history of 72 years is back on track with satisfactory performance to the end of the third quarter in the financial year of 2011/2012.

TFC Chairman Preethi Jayawardena, a distinguished business professional and chartered accountant by profession who with over 30 years of experience in mastering the complex art of finance and treasury, is determined to lead the company to the very pinnacle of success.  

He also revealed that TFC is looking forward to a new era of refinement as it has definitely succeeded in overcoming the difficult terrain along which it was travelling for the past stretch of time.

“The hard part is over and now we are at the end of the tunnel and are looking towards the light,” Jayawardena revealed. It has been a challenging year as a part of the overall brand strategy to enhance the corporate brand image a facelift was given to almost 50% of branches situated all over the country.

TFC has also relocated some of its key branches to more strategic locations to improve the business potential of these areas and to serve its customers with even greater convenience.

Branches in Batticaloa, Vavunia, Maharagama, Nelliadi, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura were relocated within the year and the Jaffna branch, which were incidentally the companies first branch moved back to its own premises with the post war development in Jaffna.  

The chief guest of the Jaffna opening was Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, along with many other top Central Bank officials.

Having a strategic focus on pawning the company has aggressively expanded the network of its pawning operations to 36 pawning units, which has been increased from 32 units during the first 10 months of the current financial year.

The newest pawning centres that are opened were in Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavunia and Maharagama.

TFC boasts of an expert team which is well versed and experienced in the key business operations of the company including several consultants that were brought in to add more focus in certain critical areas to help determine the ways and means in which the company could improve its efficiency. This, in turn bodes well for the company’s future.  TFC has been recording impressive growth in key areas of business during the current financial year.  

It has succeeded in securing a 181% growth in fixed deposits, 50% volume growth in savings while a 234% growth has been achieved in pawning as well as a 147% growth in investments during the first 10 months of 2011 in comparison with the financial year of 2010.

In addition to these extremely impressive figures, the fact that TFC has one of the highest deposit bases of 21 billion amongst the non-banking finance institutions is indicative of the trust and confidence placed in the company by the public.  Being the undisputed leader and pioneer of real estate business in the country, the company has made impressive profits this year by selling over 1700 blocks of land recording an average net profit of over 28% from each project. “We have the best expertise in the land sales industry with us and we will be more focused in this aspect in achieving a higher ratio of business from real estate,” said Jayawardena.

The company is currently in the process of an organisation wide strategic re structure, handled by an expert consultant company, MTI consulting, with whose guidance will reshape the organisation to reach higher productivity and efficiency gearing the company to face the new challenges in the coming new financial year. “We are looking forward to the report of the strategic consultants and would look at making many changes in considering their recommendations,” added Jayawardena.

“Leading a financial institution is a huge responsibility,” Jayawardena said, adding, “We are well aware of the fact that we are responsible for both the shareholders and depositors of the company. Our depositors are sacred to us. We know that it is their life savings that they invest in us and so, we have a great responsibility of looking after them.”