TKS Finance completes rights issue and appoints new Chairman

The board of directors of TKS Finance Limited in a statement said the company has successfully completed its rights issue announced in August, raising a total sum of Rs.109 million on October 6, 2018. 

With the completion of the rights issue, the stated capital of the company now stands at Rs.1.01 billion. 

The statement said TKS Finance major shareholder, Dato Seri Tiong King Sing, had fully subscribed to his entitlement of the rights issue and the balance of the rights was taken up by new investors of the company. 

At the same time, the company has appointed Dato Seri Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi as the Independent Chairman of the company, which was duly approved by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with effect from October 1, 2018. 

Dato’ Seri Azim, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, United Kingdom and holds an MA (Business Law) from London Metropolitan University, United Kingdom. 

He is a banker by profession and was the Chairman of Bank Simpanan National (BSN), the biggest national savings bank in Malaysia. 

In the year 2000, he was also appointed as President (Asia Pacific) for World Savings Bank Institute (WSBI) and as a member of WSBI’s Board of Directors in 2003. He was also the Vice President and Treasurer of the WBSI from 2006 to 2009. 

The board of directors of TKS Finance Ltd is confident that the new Chairman Dato’ Seri Azim will take steps to turn around the performance of the company to ensure the profitability implementing effective methods for recovery of the non-performing loans of the company and better quality lending moving forward. 

Meanwhile, TKS Finance said the issue of the core capital requirement of the company will be addressed accordingly.

 
The company statement further said that the TKS Finance major shareholder is exploring a merger with another finance company in Sri Lanka and preliminary discussions are underway. 

“The merger, subject to CBSL’s approval, will put the company on a firmer footing in terms of core capital to face the challenges of financial institutions in Sri Lanka,” the statements said. 

“This move is also in line with the directive from CBSL,” it added. 

The company said any further developments in this area will be announced at a later stage. 

Meanwhile, TKF Finance said the major shareholder is committed to inject additional capital to the company to ensure the CBSL’s core capital requirement. 

TKS Finance has been rated (SL) B- (Stable) by ICRA Lanka Limited.