Business
Twin wins for Teejay Lanka at Presidential Export Awards
Teejay Lanka PLC, Sri Lanka’s leading fabric manufacturer, won twin awards as the ‘Best Textile Exporter’ in Sri Lanka at the combined 2019-20 and 2020-21 Presidential Export Awards ceremony hosted by the Export Development Board (EDB).
These are Teejay Lanka’s second and third consecutive ‘Best Exporter’ awards in the Knitted Fabric Sector. The Company won this title for the first time on its debut at the Presidential Export Awards in 2019. The combined awards ceremony marks the 24th edition of this awards programme and was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic which prevented the conduct of last year’s ceremony.
The Best Textile Exporter awards were presented to Teejay in recognition of its outstanding contribution to the export sector and to the economic development of Sri Lanka. Teejay Lanka which has been on a steady growth trajectory over the years reported a total revenue of US$ 112.9 million for 2020-21 and US$ 109.2 million for 2019-20. Of this, 11 per cent (about Rs 2.4 billion at current exchange rates) was generated by exports to customers in Bangladesh, Italy, India, and Haiti in 2020-21, while in 2019-20, exports of approximately Rs 5 billion represented 23 per cent of revenue.
“These awards are a testament to our resilience and adaptability in turbulent times,” Teejay Lanka CEO Pubudu De Silva commented. “Despite the disruptions created by the pandemic and the increase in prices of cotton and other inputs, we have maintained our growth trajectory and retained our status as Sri Lanka’s top knit fabric exporter for three years in a row. The Group is now focused on catering to our customers’ next phase of fabric requirements with synthetic and niche fabric offerings that are high in quality and value.”
Matching Teejay Lanka’s milestone accomplishments, its wholly-owned subsidiary Teejay India too has been recognised for its outstanding services to the textile industry. For the financial years 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21, the Company won Best Exporter Awards in the Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone (VSEZ) at the Export Excellence Awards presented by the Export promotion Council for Export Oriented Units (EOU) and Special Economic Zones (SEZ).
Teejay has invested $ 26 million to increase the India plant’s daily output by 20 tons, which is aligned with the Group’s focus on building its synthetic fabric manufacturing capacity in Teejay India and would contribute to the Group’s target of becoming a US$ 300 million business by 2023. The first phase of expansion under this project is expected to come on line in January 2022, adding five tons a day to production capacity.
The 24th Presidential Export Awards ceremony for the financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21 was held on 26th November at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka’s largest textile manufacturer and the first textile manufacturer in the country to receive membership of the US Cotton Trust Protocol, Teejay Lanka PLC is a public quoted company with 40 per cent public ownership. The company is backed by Sri Lanka’s largest apparel exporter Brandix Lanka which has a 33 per cent stake. Pacific Textiles of Hong Kong whose key shareholder is the Tokyo Stock Exchange listed Toray Industries Inc., owns 27 per cent of Teejay Lanka.
Besides being adjudged the Best Textile Exporter in Sri Lanka for the past three years by the EDB, Teejay has also been named among the 100 Most Respected Companies in Sri Lanka by LMD.
An ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and OHSAS 18001:2007 compliant company and the first in the industry to develop green fabric, Teejay has been listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) since 2011 and was included in the S&P Top 20 Index in Sri Lanka. The Company has been named among the Forbes ‘200 Best under a Billion in Asia’ and been recognised as the ‘International Textile Firm of the Year’ and the ‘International Dyer and Finisher’ by World Textile Institute, London.
Ceylinco Life’s Ambalantota branch agent AIP Manjula has been named one of three global finalists for the prestigious Insurance Agent of the Year award at the 11th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards (ATLAA) 2026.
The recognition places a Sri Lankan insurance professional among the finalists in a regional field spanning South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Ceylinco Life said the achievement reflected the calibre and customer-focused approach of its agency force, while recognising Manjula’s professionalism and commitment to policyholders.
The award evaluates insurance agents on criteria extending beyond sales performance, including ethical conduct, client service, policy persistency, digital adoption, innovative practices and contributions to the insurance industry and community.
The awards are organised by Asia Advisers Network and Asia Insurance Review, with LIMRA as co-organiser. An independent judging and balloting process is monitored by KPMG as the official scrutineer. The judging panel comprises senior insurance executives, association presidents and industry experts from across the Asia-Pacific region.
CEAT Kelani Holdings (CKH) has retained its National Long-Term Rating of ‘AA+(lka)’ with a Stable Outlook from Fitch Ratings for the sixth consecutive year, reflecting the company’s financial resilience and leading position in Sri Lanka’s pneumatic tyre market.
The ‘AA+(lka)’ rating, the second-highest on Fitch’s national scale, indicates a very strong capacity to meet financial commitments.
Fitch said CKH’s established market leadership and resilient financial profile remained key strengths, while noting its exposure to price-sensitive, cyclical and highly competitive markets.
The Stable Outlook reflects expectations that the company will maintain its market position despite rising input costs and increasing competition from imported tyres, while preserving adequate credit metrics during periods of weaker earnings and higher investment.
Fitch expects CKH’s established brand, extensive dealer network and adaptive pricing strategies to support its market position. Planned production facility upgrades are also expected to improve product quality, particularly in the radial tyre segment.
The rating agency expects near-term pressure on margins from higher raw material and energy costs but said the company’s low leverage and sound liquidity would provide a cushion.
CKH Chairman Chanaka De Silva said the rating reinforced the company’s focus on disciplined financial management, operational adaptability and long-term investment.
SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise, the enterprise services arm of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, has launched its Premium Cloud service powered by Nutanix, aimed at helping Sri Lankan businesses modernise their IT infrastructure and accelerate digital transformation.
The service was unveiled at the Lanka Tech Summit 2026 held recently at ITC Ratnadipa, Colombo.
The Premium Cloud combines hybrid multi-cloud capabilities with enterprise-grade performance, enabling businesses to run mission-critical workloads, scale cloud deployments and strengthen business continuity through disaster recovery capabilities.
Hosted on SLT-MOBITEL’s Tier III data centre infrastructure, the platform is designed to provide enhanced security, reliability and flexibility while supporting the growing technology requirements of enterprises.
SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise said the platform would also support organisations seeking to adopt AI-ready capabilities and improve the management and performance of IT workloads.
A key feature of the launch was SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise joining the Nutanix Elevate Service Provider Program (NESPP), which the company said made it the first service provider in the region to join the programme.
Powered by Nutanix’s hybrid multicloud platform, the service enables application and data mobility across on-premises environments, public clouds and edge locations.
The company said the partnership combined Nutanix’s cloud technology with SLT-MOBITEL’s local expertise and support, strengthening its multi-cloud portfolio.
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