Sri Lanka Telecom, Singer, Kelani Valley Plantations and Hayleys win gold at regional SAFA Awards in Nepal

Four Sri Lankan companies including leading conglomerates clinched the gold awards at the prestigious SAFA Best Presented Annual Report Awards 2021, organised by the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) which was held in Kathmandu, Nepal in the presence of Mr. Hennayake Bandara, outgoing President of SAFA and Ms. Anoji de Silva, Chairperson of the Improvement in Transparency, Accountability and Governance Committee of SAFA, who is also a Council Member of CA Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Telecom PLC won the gold award under the Communication and Information Technology Sector while Singer Sri Lanka PLC won gold for the Service Sector (Excluding Financial Services & Communication & IT Sector). Kelani Valley Plantations PLC was adjudged gold winner under the Agricultural Sector and Hayleys PLC was a joint gold winner in the Diversified Holdings sector.

The SAFA Best Presented Annual Report Awards is deemed as one of the most prestigious accolades for financial reporting in the South Asian region, with companies from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal participating at the annual event which promotes transparency, accountability and good governance.

Under the Integrated Reporting category, Sri Lanka’s Softlogic Life Insurance bagged the silver award while John Keells Holdings PLC won Bronze and the National Development Bank PLC won merit. For the SAARC Anniversary Award for Corporate Governance category, LB Finance PLC walked away with the bronze award, while both Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC and Hatton National Bank PLC secured merits.

A total of six local companies bagged silver awards at the SAFA industry awards with Softlogic Life Insurance PLC winning silver under the Insurance Sector, while Hayleys Advantis Limited was adjudged a joint silver winner for the Service Sector (Excluding Financial Services & Communication & IT Sector). Talawakelle Tea Estates PLC won the silver award under the Agricultural Sector, while John Keells Holding PLC won silver under the Diversified Holdings and Access Engineering PLC walked away with the silver award under the Infrastructure & Construction sector.

Sri Lankan companies also bagged several bronze awards at the regional competition. Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC and National Development Bank PLC won bronze under the Private Sector Bank category, while People’s Bank won bronze under the Public Sector bank category. L B Finance PLC won bronze under the Financial Services Sector while both the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing and the Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka (AAT) were joint bronze award winners under the Non-Governmental Organizations (including NPOs) sector. Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC won the bronze under the Diversified Holdings sector. 

13 Sri Lankan companies also took home merit prizes at the regional awards. the recipients were Hatton National Bank PLC, Bank of Ceylon, National Savings Bank, Union Assurance PLC, Ceylinco Life Insurance PLC, Citizens Development Business Finance PLC, People’s Leasing & Finance PLC, Samson International PLC, Dipped Product PLC, Lanka Walltiles PLC, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Resus Energy PLC and RIL Property PLC.