Mercantile Investments & Finance PLC’s (MI), annual report was recognized highly among the top ten corporates at the 55^th Annual Reports Award Ceremony, which was held at the Shangri La Hotel in Colombo on the 4^th December 2019. Organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, the Annual Reports Awards is one of the country’s most prestigious and oldest corporate events of its kind. The event promotes transparency, accountability, social responsibility and corporate governance among the diverse business sectors. The State Minister of Internal Trade and Consumer Welfare, Mr. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa attended the event as chief guest, with Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, the Governor of Central Bank as the guest of honor.

Titled ‘A Profound Journey’, Mercantile Investments & Finance PLC’s annual report secured the Silver Award in the Finance Company Sector and a place among the Top 10 Annual Reports of Sri Lanka for the financial year 2018/2019.With over 130 applicants this year, reaching this milestone was certainly a noteworthy performance. This recognition was received consequent to MI winning at the CMA Integrated Annual Reporting Awards 2019, securing a place in the Top Ten best integrated annual reports, which encompassed the cream of Sri Lankan Corporates.

The report was centered around creating value for people, the customers, employees, communities and the general public who have all played an integral part in Mercantile Investments & Finance PLC’s 55-year proud business history. Reflecting the importance of human capital, Gerard Ondaatjie, in the Managing Director’s review of the annual report stressed, “Equal emphasis was placed on nurturing human capital to improve productivity, in the light of increasing work demands and sophistication. Accordingly, our investment in training and development activities went up rapidly year-on-year, setting the tone for a more future oriented workforce”

It was yet another laurel in the cap for the Company to have earned this prestigious award in acknowledgment of its excellence in financial and non-financial reporting. For over five decades, Mercantile Investments and Finance PLC has been in the forefront of Sri Lanka’s financial services industry and renowned to produce outstanding Annual Reports with due transparency. MI is a licensed finance company in Sri Lanka under the Finance Business Act No. 42 of 2011 as well as being listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Photo caption: Mr. Deva Anthony, CFO of Mercantile Investments and Finance PLC, and the Finance Team receiving the award from Mr. Ranel Wijesinghe, former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka