JKH retains top slot in the LMD 100
- Conglomerates and banks dominate the rankings this year
Media Services, the publisher of pioneering business magazine LMD, has announced that it will release its special edition on Sri Lanka’s leading listed companies – the LMD 100 – to bookstores this week. 
LMD’s special edition – the 21st since the rankings were first published in 2004 – notes that “with a turnover of close upon Rs. 90 billion in 2013/14, JKH retains its position at the summit of the premier listed company rankings.”
The magazine notes: “Bukit Darah surrenders its runner-up title from last year to Lanka IOC. Hayleys crawls up by one spot, to third place, and it is followed by Bukit Darah in fourth place. Commercial Bank rounds off the top five.
The rest of the leader board consists of HNB at No. 6 and Dialog Axiata in seventh place, SLT at No. 8, as well as CT Holdings and Cargills – they’re placed ninth and tenth respectively.”
“Combined turnover of the 50 leading listed entities has increased by 10% in the latest rankings, but their aggregated bottom lines contracted by a notable 6%. In 1993/94, revenue rose by 20% year-on-year, while profits expanded by a mammoth 60%,” it observes.
The LMD 100’s cumulative post-tax profit declined by six percent in 2013/14, compared to the previous year, to Rs. 171 billion.
“Even JKH, which ranks No. 1 on the list of profitable entities, saw its bottom line shrink by four percentage points, to Rs. 13 billion.” At the same time, 10 of the LMD 100 ended the 2013/14 financial year in the red, versus a count of only three in the preceding year,” the journal notes.
Royal Ceramics made the most notable progress in LMD’s rankings – it moves into the top 50 listed entities in 2013/14 at No. 37 – up 25 places from the preceding year. People’s Leasing & Finance and LB Finance also make their presence felt, improving their positions by six and five spots respectively.
Sri Lanka’s version of the Fortune 500 can also be viewed online, on LMD’s website (www.lmd.lk).
