LOLC Group posts Rs. 57 billion in PBT

Ishara Nanayakkara, Deputy Chairman of LOLC Group with Group Managing Director/CEO of LOLC Group, Kapila Jayawardena
 

A record-breaking performance
 

Sri Lanka’s most valuable and globally diversified financial conglomerate, the LOLC Group, posted a record-breaking performance for the financial year ending 31st March 2021, achieving unprecedented bottom line results of Rs. 57Bn in Profit Before Tax (PBT), and a Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs. 53Bn – a first for any corporation in the country.

By achieving profits on this massive scale in the history of Sri Lanka’s corporate world, the Group once again consolidated its position as the top most profitable diversified corporate in the country, three years in a row – establishing LOLC as one of the largest Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) platforms in the world.

This stunning performance by LOLC resulted in a Rs. 28Bn being recorded as Profits Attributable to the Equity Holders of the Parent company. The Group results denote an impressive Earnings Per Share of Rs. 59.01 compared with Rs. 22.93 recorded in the previous year. Whereas, the total comprehensive income was Rs. 81Bn out of which Rs. 37Bn is attributable to the Equity Holders of the Parent company. Furthermore, the total attributable comprehensive income per share was Rs. 77.84. The resultant Net Assets Value per Share as at the year-end was Rs. 286.23 compared to Rs. 194.72 reported last year, demonstrates the exceptional value creation by the Group during the concluded financial year.

The story of LOLC’s rise into an elite blue-chip within a span of 40 years is nothing short of awe-inspiring, surpassing competitors who have been in existence for over a century. A pioneering leasing company established in the year 1980, in collaboration with ORIX Corporation of Japan and International Finance Corporation (IFC), LOLC, revolutionized the future of MSMEs in Sri Lanka and rose in stature as Sri Lanka’s largest Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI). Having established a high performance microfinance business model, LOLC rapidly exported its expertise to global markets such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines, and Pakistan in Asia; as well as Zambia and Nigeria in East and West Africa, bringing prosperity to people at the bottom of the pyramid. In addition, the Group has established its footprint in the Maldives and Sierra Leone in the arena of Non-Financial Services.

In Sri Lanka, the LOLC Group diversified into agriculture and plantations, leisure, renewable energy, construction, manufacturing and trading, information services, as well as research and innovation over and above its flagship financial services. All of these businesses recorded an upward trend in profitability in 2020/21, despite the adverse effects of COVID-19 being felt by Sri Lanka’s economy through 2020, coupled with weak GDP growth in the preceding year. Despite the global economic downturn experienced during the period, a strong pipeline of multilateral and bilateral funding has been available to LOLC and its operating companies both locally and globally – a testimonial to the confidence these institutions have placed in the LOLC Group due to its strong and unblemished track record and the potential for growth even during turbulent times.