Susantha Ratnayake bids farewell to JKH, Balendra junior in as Chairman

January, 1, 2019

Sri Lanka’s leading conglomerate – John Keells Holdings’ Chairman Susantha Chaminda Ratnayake retired at the end of 31st December 2018 after a long tenure in the company, making way for a new team to take over the reins at the country’s largest listed conglomerate, as announced in the Group’s succession plan.

Ratnayake served as the Chairman of the company since 2006. And the succession plan has outlined that Krishan Balendra (a son of former JKH Chairman Kandiah Balendra) will assume office as the Chairman/CEO and Mr. Gihan Cooray as the Deputy Chairman/ Group Finance Director, with effect from 1st January 2019.

In the last quarter of September 2018 JKH group revenue rose by 10% to Rs.32.57 billion for the period under review, the challenges the organization face came from the leisure sector owing to lower occupancies in its Colombo hotels sector – a common problem faced by 5-star hotels due to an over- supply of accommodation – and closure of some properties for refurbishing.