Harsha new Chairman at Orient Garments; Rishan Exec. Dep. Chairman
Orient Garments Plc (OGL) has seen a change at the top with Harsha de Silva as the new Chairman and controlling interest owner S.H.M Rishan as the Executive Deputy Chairman.
The changes following PC House along its Chairman Rishan acquiring 51% stake late last year and former controlling shareholders Finco representatives stepping down.
Rishan and de Silva were first appointed to the OGL Board in mid October along with Dinal Wijemanne.
Navara Capital Group Managing Director De Silva though the new Chairman is an Independent Non Executive Director whilst Wijemanne is same as well.
OGL also announced the appointment of Ramli Gaffoor as the Director and CEO of the Company. Previously he was the Chief Operating Officer.
Sarath C Weerasooriya has stepped down as Director and Chairman along with Harsha M. De Saram, Dinesh Ajit De Zoysa and Sunil Karunanayake as Directors.
Ranjith P Weerasooriya has stepped down as Managing Director but will remain on the OGL Board as a Non Executive Director.
In August last year Finco Holding Ltd., sold 52.55% stake amounting to 28.86 million shares in OGL at Rs. 21.56 per share in a deal worth Rs. 622 million to PCH Holdings Ltd (21.05%) and its Chairman S.H.M. Rishan (29.95%). Finco held back 8.4% stake. After the sale the Finco also bought 500,000 shares at Rs. 23.90. The mandatory offer didn’t elicit response from minority shareholders. As at September 2011, Finco Hold-ings held 9.34% stake along with Finco Ltd., 5.76% whilst S.C. Weerasooriya holds 0.5% stake. The second largest individual shareholder of OGL is Dr. T. Senthilverl with 14% stake as at September 2011. The Company’s financial results for first nine months are yet to be released.
OGL share closed last week at Rs. 18.10, down by Rs. 2.10 from the previous week.
In the first half of 2012 FY, OGL reported a turnover of Rs. 1.45 billion, down from Rs. 1.52 billion a year earlier and a gross profit of Rs. 156 million, up from Rs. 145 million in the first half of 2011 FY. Pre-tax profit improved from Rs. 14 million to Rs. 17.2 million whilst after tax profit was Rs. 14.4 million, up from Rs. 12.4 million. Net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company was Rs. 18.73 million same as a year earlier.
Rishan is the founder and CEO of PCH Holdings Ltd., PC Pharma Ltd., Greenwich Lanka Ltd., and Director of Procifinity Ltd., and Info Serve Ltd. His visionary leadership has enabled PC House Plc to grow from its humble beginnings to be the largest ICT company in Sri Lanka.
Rishan counts over 15 years of experience in the ICT industry and has been awarded by many local and foreign bodies for his outstanding entrepreneurship.
Harsha De Silva is the Group Managing Director of the Navara Capital Group of Companies and counts over 20 years experience in the corporate sphere. He is an Associate Member of the Chartered institute of Management Accountants UK and the Chartered Institute of Bankers UK. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka and holds an MBA from the PJM University of Sri Jayawardenepura.
Dinal Wijemanne is presently the CEO and Managing Director of Taprobane Securities (Pvt) Ltd, the stock brokering arm of the Taprobane Group. He is also a Director of Taprobane Holdings Ltd, Lexington Financial Services Ltd, Auston Institute of Management Ceylon Ltd, The Finance Company PLC, Asia Siyaka Commodities Ltd, Mandarin Capital Ltd, Amethyst Leisure Ltd. Paradise Resorts Passikuda Ltd and Wijemanne Holdings (Pvt) Ltd.Ramli Gaffoor who was OGL’s COO since 1999, has an experience of over 12 years in ensuring the smooth operations of the Company’s five manufacturing plants. He has been entrusted with responsibilities of heading the key functions such as marketing, merchandising, sourcing and procurement, production planning and monitoring, outsourcing, export documentation and shipping, finance and general administration. Prior to joining OGL as the General Manager – Marketing and Merchandising, he had gained an extensive exposure to the merchandising field during his five years tenure at Brandix Apparel.
Commencing his career in the field of financial accounting at KPMG Ford Rhodes Thornton and Company in 1989, Ramli counts over 22 years of experience in the field of accounting, merchandising and marketing.
