Sri Lanka’s CIC Holdings PLC, which has its core interests in the country’s agriculture sector, said it carried out a re-strategizing exercise, which accompanied a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), aimed at creating a more fluid and efficient organisation. 

According to CIC’s 2017/18 annual report released to the Colombo bourse, last week, CIC spent Rs.294.3 million on the said VRS, which had a negative impact on the group’s earnings. 
By the end of 2017/18 financial year, the group had a staff of 2,254.

“The re-strategizing exercise was also accompanied by a group-wide VRS scheme, which proved to be a further draw-down on the group profits for the year under review,” CIC Holdings Chairman Harsha Amarasekera told the shareholders.

The group has also trimmed its board of directors in line with the re-strategizing effort.
“In line with the re-strategizing effort and the subsequent re-alignment of businesses, it was felt that the group would be better served by a smaller board. The move also forms part of a broader cost containment effort to ensure the group migrates towards a leaner and more agile management model,” Amarasekera said.

Accordingly, the board members, R.N. Asirwatham, K.B. Kotagama, Prof. P.W.M.B.B. Marambe, Dr. R.C.W.M.R.D. Nugawela, A.V.P. Silva and D.S. Weerakkody have resigned from the CIC Holdings’ board.

With the shedding of non-core businesses and the new re-strategizing exercise, which has created a simplified operating structure, Amarasekera believes that the group is now well placed to continue to grow in 2018 and beyond.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2018 (4Q18), CIC Holdings saw its net loss widening to Rs.236.4 million, from Rs.199.9 million from the same quarter, last year, despite a slight growth in the top line. 
For the full year (FY18), CIC Holdings recorded a net loss of Rs.413.07 million, against a net profit of Rs.553.5 million a year ago, on revenue of Rs.32 billion.