Ceylinco Insurance Explained

Ceylinco Insurance PLC
Type:Public
Hq Location City:Colombo
Hq Location Country:Sri Lanka
Revenue: LKR77.020 billion
Revenue Year:2022
Operating Income: LKR16.281 billion
Income Year:2022
Net Income: LKR13.256 billion
Net Income Year:2022
Assets: LKR261.680 billion
Assets Year:2022
Equity: LKR81.895 billion
Equity Year:2022
Subsid:See text
Num Employees: 3,767
Num Employees Year:2022
Footnotes:[1]

Ceylinco Insurance PLC is the largest private sector insurance company in Sri Lanka. The company is also engaged in the education and renewable energy sectors. The company offers both life insurance and all classes of general insurance.[2] The company was incorporated in 1987 when the government ended its state monopoly over the insurance sector and the company was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange the following year. Ceylinco Insurance is an LMD 100 company, an annual list of public companies in Sri Lanka by revenue and ranked 23rd in the 2020/21 edition.[3]

History

The company traces its origin to the founding of Ceylon Insurance Company by Hugh C. Weeresekere in 1939.[4] Due to an illness, Weeresekere left the company to Justin Kotelawala, who managed the company for 25 years.[5] The insurance industry in Sri Lanka was a state monopoly from its nationalisation in the 1960s to 1988. Prior to the independence of Sri Lanka, the industry was dominated by the private sector and the industry was led by Ceylon Insurance Company.[6] In 1987, Ceylon Insurance Company was renamed Ceylinco Ltd. and incorporated as a limited liability company.[7] In 2008, Golden Key Credit Card Co., a subsidiary of Ceylico Insurance's parent Ceylinco Consolidated, crashed.[8] The board of directors of Ceylinco Consolidated, including Chairman Lalith Kotelawala, was indicted for 91 charges.[9]

Pictet & Cie, a Swiss private bank acquired 10.68% of the company's shares in 2009.[10] In 2014, Ceylinco Insurance emerged as the second-largest insurer by assets in the country. Ceylinco controlled 22.6% of total insurance assets behind Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation's 40%.[11] Global Rubber Industries (Pvt) Ltd, the largest shareholder of the company sought legal action against the board of directors of the company alleging irregular deals and payments. Global Rubber Industries (Pvt) Ltd alleged that the directors had compensated themselves more than three other private insurance companies combined while paying less in dividends.[12] The Commercial High Court rejected all 15 interim orders sought by Global Rubber Industries.[13] The company was included in S&P Sri Lanka 20 Index in June 2018. To mark the occasion, Managing Director cum CEO Ajith Gunawardena rang the opening bell of the Colombo Stock Exchange on 26 June 2018.[14]

Operations

The company invested LKR40 million in building La Serena, a retirement community resort in Uswetakeiyawa.[15] Ceylinco Insurance was ranked 9th in the Most Respected and Admired Corporates list, compiled by LMD in 2021.[16] Ceylinco Life retained its position as the most valuable life insurance brand with a brand value of LKR3.8 billion in 2022.[17] Meanwhile, Ceylinco General became a close second in the most valuable general insurance provider with a brand value of LKR3.6 billion against the market leader, Sri Lanka Insurance's LKR4.1 billion brand value. Ceylinco Life ranked 28th and Ceylinco General 31st in overall brand valuation rankings.[18] At 16th SLIM-Kantar Peoples Awards in 2022, the company was voted as the most popular life insurance provider.[19] In 2022, Ceylico Life was recognized as one of the ten best workplaces by the Great Place to Work network.[20]

Subsidiaries

Ceylinco Insurance controls a number of subsidiaries.

Subsidiaries of Ceylinco Insurance
Subsidiary Stake
Serene Resorts Ltd 100%
Ceylinco Healthcare Services Ltd 99%
Ceylinco Investcorp (Pvt) Ltd 75%
Ceylinco Insurance Company (Pvt) Ltd (Maldives) 79%
Energy Lanka Holdings Ltd 100%
64%
Ceylinco General Insurance Ltd 100%
Ceylinco Life Insurance Ltd 100%
CEG Education Holdings (Pvt) Ltd 63%
American Education Centre Ltd 41%

Source: Annual Report, 2021

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Annual Report 2022 . cse.lk . Ceylinco Insurance PLC . 4 May 2023.
  2. Web site: Ceylinco Insurance PLC . . Financial Times . 16 June 2022.
  3. News: Financial Profile . 17 June 2022 . . Media Services Pvt Ltd.
  4. News: Ceylinco Insurance books impressive history . 17 June 2022 . . . 14 October 2011.
  5. News: Perera . Quintus . Tribute to Lalith Kotalawela in new book on Ceylinco saga . 17 June 2022 . . Wijeya Newspapers . 16 October 2011.
  6. Book: Gunawardena . Charles A. . Encyclopedia of Sri Lanka . 2005 . Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd . 978-1-93270-548-5 . 194 . 16 June 2022.
  7. Web site: Company History . ceylincolife.com . Ceylinco Life Insurance Limited . 17 June 2022.
  8. News: Sirimane . Shirajiv . Three years after Ceylinco scandal . 17 June 2022 . . . 19 December 2011.
  9. News: Fernando . Susitha R. . Thajudeen . Farook . Golden Key collapse: Lalith K and others finally indicted on 91 charges . 17 June 2022 . Daily FT . Wijeya Newspapers . 11 July 2011.
  10. News: Foreign fund gets 10% in Ceylinco Insurance . 16 June 2022 . The Sunday Times . Wijeya Newspapers . 11 October 2009.
  11. Book: The Report: Sri Lanka . 2016 . Oxford Business Group . 978-1-91006-859-5 . 93 . 16 June 2022.
  12. News: Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco Insurance shareholder seeks forensic probe, ousting of directors . 16 June 2022 . Economy Next . Echelon Media (Pvt) Ltd. . 8 December 2014.
  13. News: Court rejects all 15 interim orders against Ceylinco Insurance sought by shareholder . 17 June 2022 . Daily FT . Wijeya Newspapers . 19 October 2015.
  14. News: Ceylinco Insurance opens trading at CSE to mark S&P SL 20 inclusion . 17 June 2022 . Daily FT . Wijeya Newspapers . 27 June 2018.
  15. News: Daniel . Devan . Ceylinco Life invests for demographics transition . 16 June 2022 . echolon.lk . Echelon Media (Pvt) Ltd. . 27 January 2017.
  16. News: Ceylinco Insurance ranked in 9th position amongst SL's Most Respected Corporates . 16 June 2022 . . Wijeya Newspapers . 16 Aug 2021.
  17. News: Ceylinco Life crowned Lanka’s Most Valuable Life Insurance Brand in 2022 . 17 June 2022 . . . 15 May 2021.
  18. Web site: Sri Lanka 100 2022 . brandirectory.com . Brand Finance . 17 June 2022 . 14–15 . 3 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220603175706/https://brandirectory.com/download-report/brand-finance-sri-lanka-100-2022-full-report.pdf . dead .
  19. News: Ceylinco Life voted Sri Lanka's most popular life insurer for record 16th year . 17 June 2022 . adaderana.lk . Ada Derana . 24 March 2022.
  20. News: Ceylinco Life among Great Place to Work ‘10 Best Workplaces’ in Banking, Finance & Insurance . 17 June 2022 . The Island . Upali Newspapers . 20 March 2022.