Experience

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  Kpmg

  Jan 1994 - Jan 2004

  Assuarance services & tax

  I spent my professional formative years at KPMG. Thereafter i was promoted to manager & then a Senior Manager in the Tax and advisory divisions.

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  John keells holdings

  Jan 2005 - Jan 2009

  Finance manager

  Finance Manager for the Ceylon Cold Stores a subsidiary at JKH. This company is in the Carbonated Soft drinks and frozen Confectionary industry.

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  Hirdaramani group of companies

  Nov 2009 - Jan 2014

  Chief financial officer

  I am the CFO for a division at Hirdaramani Group- a large Garment industry player in Sri Lanka. Responsible for the financial wellbeing of the cluster and the administration and control of of an orgnanisation of approx 4,000 employees and 6 factories. I also oversee the IT and Commercial functions.I gave thought leadership & strategic input to take the cluster on a double digit expansion drive. I was instrumental in transitioning some of the back office functions into a shared services Centre to take advantage of economies of scale.I championed value addition mentality across the organizations' silos and drove cost optimizations. I championed customer/product profitability with a view of promoting organizations bottom-line. Show less

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  Hela clothing group

  Feb 2014 - Oct 2016

  Finance director

  Hela Clothing Group-one of the fastest growing British owned Apparel Groups in Sri Lanka with a vision to be among the market leaders in the next couple of years. Turnover $ 130 Mn; 12 factories and a staff strength of 12,000 approx.I am the Finance Director for the Group (a Board Position); a chief Architect for the revitalized strategic direction of the group in addition to the responsibility for the financial health of the organization. I am also responsible for the Commercial division and Information Technology for the group.With my intervention, the business transformed from a loss making one to a profitable one within a short span of time with change in the strategic direction of the business. Ensured the company reach the median of profitability in the industry within a short span of time. I pursued systematically Industry benchmarked KPIs and drove business improvement and strategies for doubling the business within a very short span of time. I introduced Governance Structures on par with international standards including at Board Level, to prepare the organization for a Listing in an international exchange. It shows that when the Board creates an enabling environment, any business can be transformed.I have restructured overseas operations of the group that existed and even ventured into new territories with new facilities. Introduced motivational schemes that increased productivity significantly in SBUs and thereby reduce costs. Reduced the finance cost by half with astute negotiations over a short span of time. I reduced waste drastically with constant monitoring/re-engineering processors which is a key KPI in the Apparel Manufacturing industry. At the end of the day it proved that it is the human touch that helps all of us achieve both personal and organizational goals. Change Management is an Art and a Passion for me. Show less

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  Laugfs holdings limited

  Nov 2016 - now

  Group finance director

  Laugfs Group is SLR 65+ Bn turnover group operating in diverse sectors such as Power & Energy, Manufacturing, Retail to Leisure, envisioning to be one of the biggest Power & Energy groups in the region. Some of the SBUs are listed in Colombo Stock exchange; Employing a staff of 4,000 approx. I am the Group Finance Director (a Board Position) for the group. I am responsible for guiding the strategic direction of the group in addition to the core role of ensuring financial wellbeing/restructure of the existing finances. I have encouraged the senior management team to ensure financial discipline in the businesses and to ensure management of the capital structure in carrying out day to day operations. I have standardized the internal reporting with a view to ensure that the SBUs report their performance in an objective manner with a constant reminder of achievement of the overall long term goals. I have Set KPIs for the businesses based on the Balanced Score Card principles and driven business improvement strategies, which shows that the improvement of any business is based on the Board having the foresight to create an enabling environment.I have re-engineered the Finance function of the group where finance professionals bring in cutting edge developments to operations. The finance function is being transformed into a fully digitalized function with automation of processes being the cornerstone. I have elevated the role of the Corporate Finance function to guide the direction of the portfolio of SBUs. I set up the centralized functions such as Group Treasury function, Tax function & Shared Services Function etc. which were the need of the hour. The group audit function was transformed into a seamless operation, where it now operates 'hand in glove' with the SBUs not only to ensure the internal controls function properly, but also to guide the management team based on Enterprise Risk Management from the outset. Show less