1 POSITIONED TO PERFORM STRONGLY ESTABLISHED IN THE SOUTH EAST ASIAN REGION, BUKIT DARAH PLC IS A BROADLY DIVERSIFIED HOLDING COMPANY. OUR PORTFOLIO IS DIVERSE, INCLUDING OIL PALM PLANTATIONS, OILS AND FATS, BEVERAGE, PORTFOLIO & ASSET MANAGEMENT, REAL ESTATE AND LEISURE. THIS REPORT DESCRIBES A DIFFICULT YEAR ON ALL FRONTS WHICH THE GROUP ADAPTED TO CONSOLIDATE ITS KEY BUSINESSES. NEW HECTARAGES PLANTED, PLANT CAPACITY INCREASED, BRAND PORTFOLIO ADDED TO, SYSTEMS STREAMLINED AND STAFFING OPTIMISED. WE ARE NOW READY AND WELL POSITIONED TO PERFORM. Carson Cumberbatch PLC is a broadly diversified conglomerate with interests in oil palm plantations, oils and fats, beverages, portfolio & asset management, real estate and leisure sectors. Goodhope Asia Holdings Ltd. is an integrated Oil Palm producer with end to end participation in Palm Oil value chain with presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Singapore. ANNUAL REPORT 2014/15 2 SECTOR OVERVIEW BEVERAGE The beverage sector of the Group has roots going back to over 100 years in the brewing industry of Sri Lanka, where sector holding company, Ceylon Beverage Holdings PLC – formerly known as ‘The Ceylon Brewery’- , was the country’s pioneer brewer. It has nurtured its brand ‘Lion’ through times of traditional brewing in the picturesque and cool climes of Nuwara Eliya, to its modern high tech state-of-the-art plant owned by subsidiary and operating company, Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC in Biyagama. The flagship brand “Lion” is also exported to several countries including USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Japan, and the Maldives where the company is the market leader. In addition to its own brands, Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC also produces the internationally renowned global brand “Carlsberg”, under license from Carlsberg International Denmark, since 1993. With the recent acquisition of Millers Brewery, the product portfolio of Lion Brewery has expanded further, to include a number of Millers brands, such as “Three Coins Lager”, “Sando Dark” and “Sando Stout”. The company recently acquired distribution rights for the legendary Mexican beer brand “Corona” and is also the licensed distributor for Diageo brands in Sri Lanka. In addition to Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC, Ceylon Beverage Holdings has also invested in a chain of pubs (“Machan” & “O!”) and retail outlets, under subsidiary companies Retail Spaces and Pubs N Places, with the aim of providing consumers with a pleasant ambience and environment to purchase the alcoholic beverages they desire. BUKIT DARAH PLC 3 LEISURE The Leisure sector of the Group constitutes of two hotel properties; The Pegasus Reef Hotel and Giritale Hotel, the latter being fully owned by the former. The Pegasus Reef Hotel, which entered the hospitality industry of Sri Lanka during the early1970’s as one of the first premier star class resort establishments in the country, is a luxurious tropical getaway, located in Hendala, Wattala, overlooking the breathtaking Indian Ocean. Today, it is a 140 key venue, equipped with modern banquet halls capable of hosting both banquets and MICE events alike. As such, currently the hotel is well patronized by both local and foreign clientele. In efforts to provide a unique guest experience and elevate the overall standards of the hotel, an exclusive sea food restaurant has been planned, which is expected to open in August 2015. The Giritale Hotel is a 40 key resort located in Giritale, Polonnaruwa, one of the ancient Kingdoms of Sri Lanka rich in culture and heritage. The hotel is situated overlooking the Giritale Tank (reservoir) and close to Minneriya sanctuary, and is a well sought after eco-tourist destination. ANNUAL REPORT 2014/15 4 SECTOR OVERVIEW PLANTATIONS Majority of our Oil Palm Plantations are situated in Indonesia, in the Kalimantan and in Irian Jaya regions, whilst our entry into plantations dates back to over 100 years with Rubber plantations in Malaysia. We entered Indonesia in 1996 with the setting up of PT Agro Indomas, in Central Kalimantan with a land bank of 12,000 hectares. Our second plantations in Indonesia, PT Agro Bukit commenced development in 2005 and since then we have grown to a total extent of over 80,000 hectares planted in Indonesia and with a total land bank of over 150,000 hectares. We produced over 1 Mn MT of FFB (Fresh Fruit Bunches) and 230,000 MT of CPO (Crude Palm Oil) during the financial year 2014/15. Goodhope Asia Holdings Ltd was incorporated in Singapore in 2008 as the holding company consolidating all investments by the Carsons Group in the Oil Palm Plantations and Oils & fats business segments. As the planted extents grew, we have also set up required processing facilities to produce Crude Palm Oil (CPO), and developed infrastructure within the operating locations. Our plantations are developed adopting stringent sustainable development criterion, Goodhope is a member of the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) and we produce RSPO certified palm oil at some of palm oil mills. BUKIT DARAH PLC 5 OILS & FATS Goodhope entered the downstream edible Oils & Fats segment, with the acquisition of a specialty Oils & Fats manufacturing operation in Malaysia and a palm oil refinery in India. Our total refining and specialty fats manufacturing capacity is over 300,000 MT. Our downstream operations supplies specialty fats to the confectionery, ice cream and bakery business, with the Malaysian plant exporting specialty fats manufactured out of palm kernel oil, palm oil and coconut oil to over 55 countries. Our customers range from multi nationals to regional and national players within these industries commanding significant market shares in their respective businesses. The downstream businesses will facilitate us to integrate with the upstream plantations in Indonesia over the medium to long term, facilitating towards achieving our vision of becoming an integrated player within the Palm oil industry value chain. ANNUAL REPORT 2014/15 6 SECTOR OVERVIEW PORTFOLIO & ASSET MANAGEMENT The Portfolio & Asset Management segment of the group is primarily focussed on capital market activities for management of portfolios, across multiple asset classes. Ceylon Guardian Investment Trust PLC, which is positioned as the sector holding company, holds the privilege of being the largest listed investment company on the Colombo Stock Exchange to date. The Guardian group, with its specialised subsidiaries on different asset classes, serves as an investment house which offers investors variety in terms of exposure to asset classes based on their preference and risk appetite. To this end, the group has two listed subsidiary companies; Ceylon Investments PLC (CINV) and Guardian Capital Partners PLC which act as investment vehicles for listed and private equity respectively. Ceylon Guardian’s own proprietary portfolio forms the anchor funds under management, further to which, the group has diversified its business reach on three fronts –client portfolio management, unit trust management and private equity management. The Group also has presence in the Unit Trust segment, via Guardian Acuity Asset Management, a joint venture formed with Acuity Partners. Guardian Acuity Asset Management primarily has three unit trust funds in offer; Guardian Acuity Fixed Income Funds, Guardian Acuity Equity Fund and Guardian Acuity Money Market Gilt Fund. The sector also offers the Sri Lanka Fund, (formerly known as the Regent Sri Lanka Fund), a dedicated USD denominated country fund incorporated with the objective of facilitating investors residing overseas to gain exposure to the local market. As at 31st March 2015, the total Assets under Management of the Guardian Group amounted to Rs.34.0 Bn, of which, the discretionary portion of Guardian’s proprietary portfolio was valued at Rs.13.5 Bn and external client portfolios together with Unit Trust’s stood at a cumulative Rs.6.6 Bn. BUKIT DARAH PLC 7 REAL ESTATE The Real Estate business of Bukit Darah Group comprising of sector holding company, Equity One PLC and its subsidiaries, Equity Two PLC and Equity Three pvt Ltd is primarily engaged in the rental of office and warehouse spaces. The sector owns and manages a total built up area of approximately 192,000 sq. ft. spread across a land bank of 2.94 acres, all positioned in the prime areas of Colombo, bearing significant value potential. For instance, the sector’s office properties at Janadhipathi Mawatha are located in the commercial hub of Sri Lanka, facing the Central Bank, and neighbouring State and Commercial banks, the World Trade Centre, star class hotels and the Port. The group’s warehouse complex at Vauxhall Lane is also situated in an area earmarked for rapid development, amidst many landmark projects envisaged to come up, some of which have already broken ground. The total property portfolio of the sector was valued at Rs.2.7 Bn as at 31st March 2015. Further to the location factor, the sector also boasts of a diverse tenant profile featuring banks, multinationals and other corporates. The group has maintained healthy tenant retention levels over the past few years, which speaks of the high level of service provided. ANNUAL REPORT 2014/15 8 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (All figures in Sri Lankan Rupees thousands unless otherwise stated) For the year ended 31st March 2015 2014 % Change Statement of Income Group revenue 88,933,624 76,542,788 16 Segment results 13,265,075 12,892,314 3 Profit before taxation 8,488,819 11,133,371 (24) Profit after taxation 5,884,720 7,873,501 (25) EBITDA 16,069,266 15,733,307 2 Profit attributable to