MIRA INFORM REPORT

 

 

Report No. :

316175

Report Date :

17.04.2015

 

IDENTIFICATION DETAILS

 

Name :

EXPRESS NEWSPAPER (CEYLON) (PVT) LTD

 

 

Registered Office :

# 185, Grandpass Road, Colombo 14

 

 

Country :

Sri Lanka

 

 

Date of Incorporation :

25.03.1947

 

 

Com. Reg. No.:

PV 3125

 

 

Legal Form :

Private Limited Liability Company  (In Operation)

 

 

Line of Business :

Newspaper Publishers

 

 

No. of Employee :

350

 

 

RATING & COMMENTS

 

MIRA’s Rating :

B

 

RATING

STATUS

PROPOSED CREDIT LINE

26-40

B

Capability to overcome financial difficulties seems comparatively below average.

Small

 

Status :

Moderate

 

 

Payment Behaviour :

No complaints

 

 

Litigation :

Clear

 

NOTES :

Any query related to this report can be made on e-mail : infodept@mirainform.com while quoting report number, name and date.

 

 

ECGC Country Risk Classification List – December 31, 2014

 

Country Name

Previous Rating

(30.09.2014)

Current Rating

(31.12.2014)

Sri Lanka

A2

A2

 

Risk Category

ECGC Classification

Insignificant

 

A1

Low

 

A2

Moderate

 

B1

High

 

B2

Very High

 

C1

Restricted

 

C2

Off-credit

 

D

 

 

SRI LANKA ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

 

Sri Lanka continues to experience strong economic growth following the end of the 26-year conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The government has been pursuing large-scale reconstruction and development projects in its efforts to spur growth in war-torn and disadvantaged areas, develop small and medium enterprises and increase agricultural productivity. The government's high debt payments and bloated civil service have contributed to historically high budget deficits, but fiscal consolidation efforts and strong GDP growth in recent years have helped bring down the government's fiscal deficit. However, low tax revenues are a major concern. The 2008-09 global financial crisis and recession exposed Sri Lanka's economic vulnerabilities and nearly caused a balance of payments crisis. Agriculture slowed due to a drought and weak global demand affected exports and trade. In early 2012, Sri Lanka floated the rupee, resulting in a sharp depreciation, and took steps to curb imports. A large trade deficit remains a concern, but strong remittances from Sri Lankan workers abroad help offset the trade deficit. Government debt of about 80% of GDP remains among the highest in emerging markets.

 

Source : CIA

GENERAL 

 

- Basic information at a glance

 

a.

Name of Subject of Inquiry

:

 

EXPRESS NEWSPAPER (CEYLON) (PVT) LTD

 

b.

Legal Form  & Status

:

Private Limited Liability Company  (In Operation)

c.

Chairman

:

Sivakumar Nadesan

d.

Primary Line of Business

:

Newspaper Publishers

e.

Place of Business

:

 

# 185, Grandpass Road,

Colombo 14,

Sri Lanka.

                       

Tel. No: (00 94 11) 232 0881-3 / 232 3841 / 232 7827

Fax No: (00 94 11) 244 8205 / 232 7827

 

E-mail: marketing.web@virakesari.lk

 

f.

Employees

:

350

 

 

COMPANY DETAILS 

 

- Registration and Shareholder Details

 

a.

Registration No

:

PVS 528

Date of Registration

:

25th March 1947

b.

Re-registration No

 

PV 3125

Date of Re-registration

 

28th March 2008

c.

Registered Office

:

# 185, Grandpass Road, Colombo 14

d.

Board of Directors

As at

29th December 2014

:

Sivakumar Nadesan

Chairman

K. Ratnam Ravindran

Director

K. Soundararajan

Director

Hariharan Selvanathan

Director

Manoharan Selvanathan

Director

K. Gandhi Soundararajan

(Alternate director to S. Soundararajan)

Director

Arul Selvaraj Gunaseelan Gnanam

Director

Simon Rajaseelan Gnanam

(Alternate director to Arul Selvaraj Gunaseelan Gnanam)

Director

Krishnamoorthi Rajabather Ravindran (Alternate Director to K. Ratnam Ravindran)

Director

f.

Issued Share Capital

:

Rs.  410,062,500.00  

Number of Shares

:

18,225,000

g.

Nominal Value of Share

:

Not applicable/declared vide Companies Act #7 of 2007

 

 

Registration and Shareholder Details

 

 

h.

 

Major Share Holders

As at

29th December 2014

:

Major Share Holders

No. of Shares

Ceylon Finance& Securities Ltd

893,052

Michael Gnanapragasampillai Wenceslaus

1,256,202

Srinivas Karthik Kumar Nadesan

2,025,000

Krishnamoorthi Ratnam Ravindran

2,830,218

K.M.K. Holdings Limited

2,809,614

South Asian Investment (Pvt) Ltd

3,015,666

Tower Investments (Pvt) Ltd

926,178

i

Auditors

:

Pricewaterhousecoopers

# 315, Vauxhall Street, Colombo 02

j.

Company Secretaries

:

Seccom (Pvt) Ltd

# 1E -2/1, De Fonseka Place, Colombo 05

k.

Bankers

 

Peoples Bank, Indian Overseas Bank

 

 

FINANCIAL DETAILS

 

 - Most recent available Financial Information

 

Based on the corporate laws of Sri Lanka, legal entities which are Private Company with   Limited Liability is not required to make public disclosure of their annual financials. Therefore no financials are available for this entity

 

 

CURRENT INVESTIGATION

 

  • History.

 

The Subject Company EXPRESS NEWSPAPER (CEYLON) (PVT) LTD is a Private    Limited   liability Company incorporated in 25th March 1947 under registration number PVS 528 and then the company was re-registered on 28th March 2008 under registration number PV 3125.

 

The subject company Express Newspaper (Ceylon) Ltd earlier known as The Virakesari Ltd it changed on 22nd May 1972.

 

  • Location.

 

The Subject Company is located at the client # 185, Grandpass Road, Colombo 14.

 

  • Operational Details.

 

General

The subject company primary line of business is Newspaper Publishers

                    

Products

News papers, Magazines, Books

 

Country

Local 

 

No of Employees

-Not Disclosed

 

  • Director Details

 

01)

Name

K. Ratnam Ravindran

ID Number

521521597 V

Nationality

Sri Lankan

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

31st May 1952

Age

61 Years

 

02)

Name

Sivakumar Nadesan

ID Number

461802389 V

Nationality

Sri Lankan

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

28th June 1946

Age

67 Years

 

 

03)

Name

K. Soundararajan

ID Number

400352763 V

Nationality

Sri Lankan

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

04th February 1940

Age

75 Years

 

 

04)

Name

Hariharan Selvanathan

ID Number

490322779 V

Nationality

Sri Lankan

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

01st February 1949

Age

66 Years

 

05)

Name

K. Gandhi Soundarrajan

ID Number

692943830 V

Nationality

Sri Lankan

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

20th October 1969

Age

45 Years

 

06)

Name

Arul Selvaraj Gunaseelan Gnanam

ID Number

510653700 V

Nationality

Sri Lankan

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

05th March 1951

Age

64 Years

 

07)

Name

Simon Rajaseelan Gnanam

ID Number

561240272 V

Nationality

Sri Lankan

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

03rd May 1956

Age

58 Years

 

08)

Name

Krishnamoorthi Rajabather Ravindran

ID Number

783533634 X

Nationality

Sri Lankan

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

18th December 1978

Age

36 Years

 

 

  • Trade references

Sri Lanka Association of Printers

 

  • Credit Recommendations

 

Since no financial information has been forthcoming from the company, it is not possible to comment on the merits or otherwise of the company.

 

No computerised data bases exist to make checks whether the partners or the company has any legal action or lawsuit initiated against any of them but informal (but not in-depth) checks do not indicate any such cases in the public knowledge.

 

 

Information denied by

 

Name :

Ms. Pushpa

Designation :

Office executive

Contact No.:

(009411) 2320881

Date :

11.04.2015

 

 

FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 

Currency
Unit

Indian Rupees

US Dollar

1

Rs.62.37

UK Pound

1

Rs.92.44

Euro

1

Rs.66.56

 

 

INFORMATION DETAILS

 

Analysis Done by :

SUB

 

 

Report Prepared by :

ANK

 

 

RATING EXPLANATIONS

 

RATING

STATUS

 

 

PROPOSED CREDIT LINE

>86

Aaa

Possesses an extremely sound financial base with the strongest capability for timely payment of interest and principal sums

 

Unlimited

71-85

Aa

Possesses adequate working capital. No caution needed for credit transaction. It has above average (strong) capability for payment of interest and principal sums

 

Large

56-70

A

Financial & operational base are regarded healthy. General unfavourable factors will not cause fatal effect. Satisfactory capability for payment of interest and principal sums

 

Fairly Large

41-55

Ba

Overall operation is considered normal. Capable to meet normal commitments.

 

Satisfactory

26-40

B

Capability to overcome financial difficulties seems comparatively below average.

 

Small

11-25

Ca

Adverse factors are apparent. Repayment of interest and principal sums in default or expected to be in default upon maturity

 

Limited with full security

<10

C

Absolute credit risk exists. Caution needed to be exercised

 

 

Credit not recommended

--

NB

                                       New Business

 

--

 

This score serves as a reference to assess SC’s credit risk and to set the amount of credit to be extended. It is calculated from a composite of weighted scores obtained from each of the major sections of this report. The assessed factors and their relative weights (as indicated through %) are as follows:

 

Financial condition (40%)            Ownership background (20%)                  Payment record (10%)

Credit history (10%)                   Market trend (10%)                                Operational size (10%)

 

 

PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL : This information is provided to you at your request, you having employed MIPL for such purpose. You will use the information as aid only in determining the propriety of giving credit and generally as an aid to your business and for no other purpose. You will hold the information in strict confidence, and shall not reveal it or make it known to the subject persons, firms or corporations or to any other. MIPL does not warrant the correctness of the information as you hold it free of any liability whatsoever. You will be liable to and indemnify MIPL for any loss, damage or expense, occasioned by your breach or non observance of any one, or more of these conditions

This report is issued at your request without any risk and responsibility on the part of MIRA INFORM PRIVATE LIMITED (MIPL) or its officials.