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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

TFC about to take off; considers applying for Banking license

By Jithendra Antonio

One of the oldest finance houses in the country, The Finance PLC is yet to take off ground as a bank while the company is an aggressive recovery phase under the new management, a company official said.

Speaking to the Mirror Business the Chairman, Preethi Jayawardena said the company may consider applying for banking license in due course, after turning it around as a strong profitable financial power house.

Back in March this year, when Preethi Jayawardena led board was appointed to TFC, it was reported that the company had already applied for a foreign currency deposit accepting license.

According to Jayawardena, TFC is also negotiating with Central Bank to restructure Ceylinco Sussex group, as Ceylinco Sussex had been financed heavily by TFC, and is already occupying several TFC lands without any rental payment.

“We are not going to acquire Ceylinco Sussex group immediately, but we may consider acquiring a stake of a newly formed company that would buy Ceylinco Sussex” he said adding that TFC is in a move to recover nearly Rs.2 billion from Ceylinco Sussex group.

While The Finance Company PLC (TFC) had initially invested approximately Rs.1.8 billion in Ceylinco Sussex under the purview of former Ceylinco group, Jayawardena said that the Rs.2 billion that is yet to be recovered from Sussex group is considered an exit strategy from distressed associate subsidiaries of Ceylinco.

“They also have a land worth about Rs.400 million, and we may also consider selling those properties under our supervision to recover our dues” Jayawardena said. While several properties owned by TFC in prominent locations in Colombo were up for sale early this year, Jayawardena also said that company has now decided not to sell the iconic properties. “But there is a five acre land next to Ceylon Tobacco Company in Colombo 15, and we hope to sell it for about Rs.2 billion” he said.

After injecting fresh capital worth Rs.1.6 billion through Secondary Public Offering, The Finance Plc (TFC) is hoping to strengthen its financial market reach through the newly appointed director board.

source - www.dailymiirror.lk