Richard Pieris Group invests Rs.1bn in finance subsidiary

• Says Rs.10bn moratorium depleted Richard Pieris Finance’s capital base
• Group’s total capital funding to Richard Pieris Finance at Rs.2.2bn

Richard Pieris Group said it invested Rs.1 billion in its subsidiary, Richard Pieris Finance Limited, to help the latter to meet its regulatory capital requirements.

“…the Group has recently invested Rs.650 million in Tier I and Tier II capital of Richard Pieris Finance Ltd,” a company statement said.

“A further investment of Rs.350 million has also been made in Richard Pieris Finance Limited this week in order to strengthen the capital, bringing the total Tier I and Tier II capital investment in Richard Pieris Finance Limited during the current financial year to Rs.1 billion, and cumulative capital investment to Rs. 2.2 billion,” it added. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Richard Pieris Finance had granted a moratorium for a lending portfolio amounting to Rs.10 billion to SME and individual customers at a concessionary rate as directed by the Central Bank.

The statement noted that this moratorium marginally impacted the capital adequacy ratio of Richard Pieris Finance, which has been considered for new capital infusion by the Group.

With extended interests in Sri Lanka’s financial services sector, Richard Pieris Group also has a life insurance business under Arpico Insurance and is also among the top 10 shareholders of National Development Bank PLC.
The Group has an asset base of Rs.72 billion and is the largest tea and rubber producer in the country. Its products are exported to over 35 countries and employs over 28, 000 people group-wide.

Richard Pieris Group also runs the only hypermarket chain in the country under the brand Arpico Super Centre, which offers the largest and unmatched range of goods under one roof to customers.