New appointments to First Capital board following untimely passing of Dinesh Schaffter

• Majula Mathews appointed as Deputy Chairperson; Dilshan Wirasekara promoted to MD/CEO

First Capital Holdings PLC, a member of the Janashakthi group, yesterday announced the appointment of Manjula Mathews as Deputy Chairperson to its board and the promotion of current Director/CEO Dilshan Wirasekara to Managing Director/CEO.  

Mathews, a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK) and an alumnus of the University of Cambridge (UK), counts over three decades of experience in finance, marketing and general management, both in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. 

She formerly served as First Capital’s Managing Director (2007-2014) and subsequently assumed duties as the group’s Executive Chairperson (2014-2017).

She is currently a Director of Janashakthi Limited, the parent company of the listed entities First Capital Holdings PLC, Janashakthi Insurance PLC, Orient Finance PLC and others.

Earlier this year, Mathews was appointed to the board of Habitat for Humanity International and is currently Board Chair of Habitat for Humanity, Sri Lanka. She also serves as a Custodian of the Alzheimer’s Association of 
Sri Lanka. Wirasekara, who has been with First Capital since 2013, is an experienced investment banker, with a career spanning over 27 years, comprising diversified expertise in financial services, including banking, treasury and investment management, capital market strategy and corporate finance advisory services. He is an alumnus of INSEAD having successfully completed his Executive Professional Education at INSEAD Business School in Fontainebleau, France and an alumnus of AOTS, Tokyo, Japan. Wirasekara assumed duties as Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange in June 2022. The appointments follow the untimely passing of Dinesh Schaffter, who served as First Capital’s Managing Director since 2014.  

With the latest changes, the board of directors of First Capital Holdings PLC comprises Nishan Fernando (Chairman), Manjula Mathews (Deputy Chairperson), Dilshan Wirasekara (Managing Director/CEO), Ramesh Schaffter, Minette Perera, Chandana de Silva and Dr. Nishan de Mel.