People live longer thanks to hi-tech and superior health care but NCDs rising

Durdans boosts profit 24% in 2019/20

Ceylon Hospitals PLC, owners of the Durdans Hospital now entering its 75th year, among the lead players in the country’s private health care industry, has closed a challenging year ended March 31, 2020, increasing its net profit 24% to Rs. 467 million on revenue of Rs. 5.98 billion, up from Rs. 5.81 billion a year earlier, the company’s recently published annual report said.

Durdans’ Executive Chairman Ajith Tudawe said that the Easter bomb as well as the Covid pandemic that followed at the end of the financial year had far-reaching effects globally on human lives and economic activities.

With non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on the rise, driven by changes in diet, environmental conditions and stress of modern urban living, the health care industry needed to deliver efficient care and long term-value to all stakeholders in their industry, he noted.

“Advancement in technology as well as well as superior healthcare has led to longevity of life,” Tudawe said. “Yet it also results in an aging population, an issue faced by all regions in the world. This is an issue that the present Sri Lankan social welfare system is not equipped to handle.”

Focusing on opportunities for growth, Tudawe said: “We are now even more confident that our plans to develop a more broad-based customer-centric business model will enable the company to explore new avenues of success and growth.”

Dr. Harsha Baranage, the hospital’s Medical Director stressed the importance of the human healing touch “despite the digitization and modern technology invading the industry.” He said that this approach from the Customer Relations Officer to the Specialist Consultant “is crucial to empathize with the patient.”

Durdans Management Services Ltd., in which several Ceylon Hospitals Directors are interested, is the company’s top voting shareholder with 68.12% of the company followed by the EPF (4.22%), and Lawrence Tudawe Management Services (Pvt) Ltd. (2.35%).

Durdans Management Services (22.47%) followed by the EPF (13.83%) are the top non-voing share owners.

The directors of the company are: Messrs. AE Tudawe (executive chairman), Dr. ADPA Wijegoonewardene (senior vice president – medical), UD Tudawe (executive vice-president), AS Tudawe (executive), while Messrs. YNR Piyasena, AS Abeywardene, SM Ismail, ADB Talwatte, and AVR de S. Jayatillake are independent non-executive directors.