Business
Dialog Enterprise extends smart fleet management solution to Perera & Sons

Keeping abreast with the very latest digitisation developments in supply chain management, Dialog Enterprise, the corporate solutions arm of Dialog Axiata PLC, extended Smart Fleet, a practical solution for fleet management to Perera and Sons (P&S), a Dialog news release said.
Dialog’s Smart Fleet solution enables the monitoring of key environmental conditions and also vehicle telematics ensuring the safety of goods, the fleet and the staff. Equipped with temperature sensors, real-time data is made available for monitoring and decision making. The solution is a Global Positioning System (GPS) driven, cost-effective IoT solution providing end-to-end visibility to the entire transportation process by gathering diagnostics and operating information from commercial vehicles, it explained.
Telematics refers to the use of wireless devices and “black box” technologies to transmit data in real time back to an organization. Typically, it’s used in the context of automobiles, whereby installed or after-factory boxes collect and transmit data on vehicle use, maintenance requirements or automotive servicing.
Smart Fleet facilitates scheduling and monitoring of the entire order delivery process, with the possibility of assigning upcoming jobs/orders based on real-time vehicle availability. Its geofencing feature ensures that the fleet remains within specified boundaries, with alerts enabled for notification if and when vehicles move out of allotted boundaries and reach high-risk or locked down areas during the pandemic, while real-time system alerts are triggered in the event of an emergency or if the vehicle deviates from its assigned task.
“We are happy to support Perera & Sons to further augment their operations with the very latest in technology to ensure safety and reliability. This marks the first step in creating a smarter operational eco-system at P&S using our analytics-led suite of Smart solutions. Dialog Smart Fleet enables them to manage, monitor and improve the efficiency of their commercial fleets, while collecting and analysing data to optimise resources in pursuit of increased productivity”, said Supun Weerasinghe, Group Chief Executive of Dialog Axiata PLC.
“We maintain a relentless focus on keeping our supply chain as efficient as possible. The pandemic brought about a paradigm shift which we are also adapting to. Our vision has always been to adapt to changing times and so we hope that we will make the best of this strategic partnership with Dialog Enterprise in successfully managing our fleet and protecting our goods and thereby providing our customers with the best of service.
We foresee this Smart Fleet solution contributing significantly in helping us move forward efficiently with our vision”, said P&S’s Managing Director Gihan Perera, a fourth-generation member of the family-owned enterprise.
Business
NSB Chairman hands over annual report to President

Dr. Harsha Cabral, Chairman of the National Savings Bank, formally presented the bank’s annual report for the year 2022 to Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization & National Policies President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday (01).
The report, titled “Strengthening Our Strength,” provides an integrated overview of the bank’s performance within the economic framework and its engagements with the social and environmental sectors.
Business
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka relaxes its Monetary Policy stance

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 31 May 2023, decided to reduce the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 250 basis points to 13.00 per cent and 14.00 per cent, respectively.
The Board arrived at this decision with a view to easing monetary conditions in line with the faster than expected slowing of inflation, gradual dissipation of inflationary pressures and further anchoring of inflation expectations. The commencing of such monetary easing is expected to provide an impetus for the economy to rebound from the historic contraction of activity witnessed in 2022, while easing pressures in the financial markets.
Business
‘Damro-revived Agalawatte Plantations in impressive start to 2023’

* Q1 Revenue grows 49.7% to Rs 1.489 billion
* Pre-tax profit up 44.6% to Rs 417.2 million
* Major investments in replanting of rubber and tea to continue in 2023
Agalawatte Plantations PLC (APL) has reported impressive revenue and profit growth in the first quarter of 2023, consolidating on the remarkable turnaround achieved subsequent to the acquisition of a majority stake in the Company by the Damro Group.
Revenue grew by 49.7% to Rs 1.489 billion for the three months ending 31st March 2023, with revenue from tea doubling to Rs 796.2 million over the first quarter of 2022, and revenue from oil palm up 57.5% to Rs 305.1 million. Rubber contributed Rs 216.9 million to the Company’s top line in the quarter reviewed.
Stable tea prices and an increased oil palm crop enabled APL to post pre-tax profit of Rs 417.2 million for the three months, reflecting growth of 44.6%. Total assets grew by 21.2% since end 2022 to Rs 6.448 billion as at 31st March 2023, and the Company’s net assets value per share improved by 23.5% to Rs 26.09.
Nalaka Gunathilake, Managing Director / CEO of Agalawatte Plantations described the growth achieved in the first quarter of 2023 as extremely encouraging in the context of the Company’s achievement of net profit of Rs 1.76 billion for the year ended 31st December 2022, the highest profit in its history.
Once debt-ridden and at risk of liquidation, Agalawatte Plantations became part of the Damro Group in 2017 when the latter acquired the majority stake in the Company and infused Rs 3.2 billion for the payment of unsettled dues and statutory obligations. Timely investments in replanting, factory modernisation, redefining strategic focus and leadership transformed the Company into the strong corporate it is today, Gunathilake said. Good management practices together with agricultural inputs and professional human resources management policies too played pivotal role in this turnaround.
APL produces around 2 million kgs of latex annually and the company has facilities to manufacture Latex Crepe, Ribbed Smoked Sheets (RSS) and Centrifuged latex depending on the demand in the market. The Company’s tea production is around 2 million kgs per year and this volume is expected to increase with the availability of chemical fertilizer and agrochemicals in the country. APL also produces more than 11 million kgs of oil palm crop annually, generating substantial returns for the Company.
With the Company’s acquisition by Damro Group a strategic management decision was taken to prioritise replanting across all estates under APL management. An extent of over 2,600 acres of aged and uneconomical rubber land has since been replanted with high yielding clones to ensure company’s productivity and sustainability in the years ahead.
The Company disclosed that a further extent of over 1,000 acres is to be replanted in 2023 and land preparation and preliminary work in these areas has already commenced. In order to support the company’s ambitious rubber replanting programme, Agalawatte Plantations has its own network of rubber nurseries and has established 400,000 seedlings in six regional nurseries to supply healthy and vigorous plants.
Between 2017-2022, an extent of over 263 acres of tea has also been replanted and the preliminary work on another 150 acres has been commenced in 2023. Five tea nurseries with 900,000 plants will supply the requirement of high yielding vigorous tea plants for the replanting programme.
APL said it is gearing up for a new phase of growth in the tea plantations by obtaining system and quality management certifications. The company has obtained the Rain Forest Alliance (RA) certification for its upcountry tea estates while all tea manufacturing facilities have obtained the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System certification.
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