Ceylon Tobacco Company revenues top Rs.106bn

The past year saw Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) evolve; growing from strength to strength to record positive advancement in numerous spheres, allowing it to contribute Rs.91.6 billion in taxes and levies to the national exchequer. This accounts to over 7 percent of the state’s total tax revenue for 2015 making CTC the largest single contributor to national tax revenue. The company reported gross revenue of Rs.106.5 billion, recording a growth of 21 percent over 2014 while posting a profit-after tax of Rs.10.6 billion in 2015, an increase of 23 percent over the previous year.

Shareholder returns increased by 14 percent, which can be attributed to the strong financial performance recorded during the year. From a performance perspective, CTC was able to achieve a growth in volumes, after three years of decline. The year commenced with CTC having to implement 60 percent pictorial health warnings (PHW) on cigarette packs, which was enlarged to 80 percent within a matter of three months.

Despite the short notice given, the company fully complied with this regulation with the co-operation of all its suppliers. Currently listed as the second mostvaluable listed company in Sri Lanka, with a market capitalisation of Rs.186 billion as at December 31, 2015, it was also adjudged the winner of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s Best Corporate Citizen Award for Employee Relations for the third consecutive year.

Other notable achievements include CTC’s Sustainable Agriculture Development Programme (SADP) being recognized as one of the best in Asia Pacific Region in the ‘Social Empowerment Category’, winning the Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Award 2015 and being listed among the Top 10 of LMD’s Most Respected Corporate Entities of 2015 in Sri Lanka.

Additionally, the company was awarded for its efforts towards being an environmentally sustainable corporate entity when it won a Merit Award in the ‘Large Scale Manufacturing’ category at the Sri Lanka National Energy Efficiency Awards 2015. CTC continues to empower rural communities across the island and support the country’s efforts on poverty alleviation through SADP. Furthermore, as at end-2015, CTC’s business operations supported over 181,000 livelihoods across its fullyfledged ‘crop to consumer’ supply chain and has infused over Rs.5.7 billion into the rural economy through farming and retailing