E. B. Creasy & Company

E. B. Creasy & Company PLC is a conglomerate holding company in Sri Lanka. The company was founded in 1878. E. B. Creasy acquired Darley Butler & Company, another one of the oldest companies in Sri Lanka in 1967. The company went public in 1968 and was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. E. B. Creasy & Company is one of the largest conglomerates in Sri Lanka with a brand value of LKR1,538 million in 2019. The company was ranked 71st in the LMD 100, an annual list of quoted companies in Sri Lanka in 2019.

E. B. Creasy & Company PLC
Company typePublic
CSEEBCR.N0000
ISINLK0059N00002
Industry
Founded1878; 146 years ago (1878)
FounderEdward Bennet Creasy
Headquarters,
Sri Lanka
Key people
  • S. D. R. Arudpragasam (Chairman and Managing Director)
  • R. Seevaratnam (Deputy Chairman)
  • S. Rajaratnam (Joint Managing Director)
RevenueIncrease LKR23,342 million (2023)
Increase LKR1,800 million (2023)
Increase LKR1,510 million (2023)
Total assetsIncrease LKR20,246 million (2023)
Total equityIncrease LKR6,807 million (2023)
ParentThe Colombo Fort Land & Building PLC
Subsidiaries
  • Laxapana Batteries PLC
  • Muller & Phipps (Ceylon) PLC
  • Darley Butler & Co. Ltd
Websitewww.ebcreasy.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

History

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Edward Bennet Creasy founded E. B. Creasy & Company in Colombo in 1878. By 1907, the office of the company was located on Baillie Street in Colombo Fort while Edward Bennet Creasy was still the proprietor. The founder's son Edward Becket Creasy was managing the business. Edward Bennet Creasy was a member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.[2] E. B. Creasy & Company incorporated in 1929 as a limited liability company and was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1968. Darley Butler was formed as a partnership between Edward Darley and Samuel Butler in 1848. Darley Butler converted to a limited liability company in 1920 and was acquired by E. B. Creasy & Company in 1967.[1]

2005 annual general meeting (AGM) of E. B. Creasy turned intense when shareholders scrutinised the performance of the company and allegations of financial irregularities. Al-Nakib, a Kuwaiti investor and the second-largest shareholder at the time, had tried to ask a question at the AGM. He was called a "troublesome foreigner" by the chairman of the company, A. Rajaratnam.[3] Al-Nakib initiated a legal case against the company. He stated in his petition that the board of directors of E. B. Creasy acted prejudicial to the interest of the company and detrimental to the minority shareholders of the company.[4]

Operations

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ICRA Lanka issued a fresh [SL]BBB credit rating for E. B. Creasy in August 2021 and the credit outlook was adjudged as stable. The company's long track record and dominant market position were cited as the rationale for the rating.[5] Brand Finance valued the conglomerate brand value of E. B. Creasy to be LKR1,538 million in 2019. The company was ranked 18th by the conglomerate brand value.[6] E. B. Creasy was ranked 71st in the LMD 100 2019/20 edition, an annual list of quoted companies in Sri Lanka by revenue.[7]

E. B. Creasy acquired the whole stake of Tata Steel's Lanka Special Steels Ltd for LKR433 million in 2015.[8] The company announced a 1-for-100 stock split in January 2021.[9] E. B. Creasy's associate company Lankem Ceylon acquired ACME printing and Packaging following the acquisition of a 19.43% stake by E. B. Creasy.[10] A study conducted on E. B. Creasy regarding employee retention has found that managers' emotional intelligence has a positive relationship with employee retention.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Annual Report 2022/23" (PDF). cse.lk. E. B. Creasy & Company PLC. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  2. ^ Wright, Arnold (1907). Twentieth century impressions of Ceylon: its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. pp. 449–450. ISBN 978-8-12061-335-5. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  3. ^ Edirimuni, Duruthu (4 December 2005). "E.B. Creasy AGM turns stormy". The Sunday Times. Wijeya Newspapers. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  4. ^ Perera, Shalini (2011). Corporate ownership and control: corporate governance and economic development in Sri Lanka. Singapore: World Scientific. p. 219. ISBN 978-9-81283-747-9. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  5. ^ "ICRA Lanka assigns fresh issuer rating of [SL]BBB with Stable outlook for E B Creasey & Company PLC". icralanka.com. ICRA Lanka. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Sri Lanka 100 2019" (PDF). brandirectory.com. Brand Finance. 2019. p. 15. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Financial Profile". LMD 100. Media Services Pvt Ltd. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Tata Steel sells its stake in Sri Lankan company". The Hindu. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Three listed companies adopting share split strategy to boost liquidity & share price". Sunday Island. Upali Newspapers. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Lankem gains control of ACME Printing & Packaging in mandatory offer". Daily Mirror. Wijeya Newspapers. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  11. ^ Fernando, P.A.S.; Gamage, Prasadini (2019). "Emotional Intelligence and Employee Intention to Retain: A Case Study of an Organization in Fast Moving Consumer Goods in Sri Lanka". International Journal of Academic Research & Development. 5 (1): 1–13.
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