HNB investment a means to diversify operations in key growth sectors: Nandana

Thursday, 29 May 2025 05:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ceylon Steel Corporation Chairman Nandana Lokuwithana

Ceylon Steel Corporation Ltd., (LANWA) said yesterday that the Rs. 14 billion investment into buying 9.9% stake in Hatton National Bank (HNB) was one of the means to diversify operations in key growth sectors.

“Growing from strength-to-strength, the LANWA Group continues on its upward trajectory as a leading business conglomerate in Sri Lanka, continuing to diversify its operations in key growth sectors in the country,” the company said in a statement yesterday.

Describing Chairman Nandana Lokuwithana as the visionary leader of the UAE-based Sri Lankan business, the statement said Lokuwithana, who purchased the steel giant in 2009, invested heavily to resurrect and develop the LANWA brand to its leadership position in the steel industry today.

Lokuwithana is renowned for his diversified portfolio of business interests ranging from strategic investments in the UAE, USA, Europe, and Sri Lanka in a number of key business verticals covering hospitality, construction, real estate, steel, cement, and tyres.

Following the rebirth of the historic LANWA brand, the company diversified into the cement industry in 2018 with the establishment of the largest, state-of-the-art purpose-built cement manufacturing plant in Sri Lanka, being established in Hambantota.

Other verticals in Sri Lanka include the launch of Ferentino Tyre Corporation Ltd. in 2017 in Horana, an active Board of Investment (BOI)-venture with exports to Europe, the USA, and South America, in addition to a countrywide sales network in Sri Lanka, with an estimated annual plant capacity of 10 million units.

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