John Keells Holdings

History

Edwin and George John founded John Keells in the 1870s. They incorporated the company in Colombo, Ceylon with the name E.John & Co. It was initially set up as a manufacturer of tea and essential foods. In 1948 E. John & Co. merged with two UK based companies including Thompson and White & Co. Ltd.

In 1960, it merged with yet another broking company, Keells & Waldock. The merged entity was known as John Keells Thompson White Ltd.

During the 1970s, John Keells diversified by acquiring Walkers Ltd, a tour operator and Mackinnon’s Group which had interests in shipping.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the company mainly focussed on new opportunities in the tourist industry.

In 1986, the name was changed again, from John Keells Ltd to John Keells Holdings Ltd. In 1986/87 John Keells went public.

John Keells Limited remains today as the business within John Keells Holdings, and is the prominent company in the Sri Lankan tea sector, operates a tea auction system where tea is sold to various buyers.

Shareholding

The number of shares of John Keells is approximately 1.32 Billion. In 2021, the share price of JKH reached Rs. 147. The promoter group, the SK Captain family, hold 11.62% of the total shares whereas the remaining 88.38% shares are held by public shareholders, including Citigroup.

Listing

The company's equity shares have been listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange since the 1980s. As of 2021, JKH's market capitalization stood at Rs195 billion, making it the largest company in Sri Lanka. In 1994 the Global Depository Receipts issued by the company were listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

Company has received domestic credit rating of AAA (lka) from Fitch. It was to become the 10th most valuable brand in Sri Lanka worth Rs. US$103 million in 2020 (excluding Elephant House).

Businesses and investments

Transportation

John Keells' total revenue from logistics was 10%, from transporting 12% and 5% from supply chain management.

John Keells Logistics (Pvt) Ltd. is a logistic, supply chain management and transportation management company. It is a subsidiary of John Keells. It is a recipient of the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certifications.

Mackinnons is one of the oldest logistic companies in Sri Lanka. It was founded by India Steamship Company in 1917. Mackinnons Group was acquired by John Keells in the 1970s.

Startup accelerator

John Keells Holdings launched John Keells X in 2016 to boost creative and intellectual business talent in Sri Lanka via a competitive programme conceptualized and administered by John Keells Holdings PLC. It includes investment in Blue lotus 360, DirectPay, HeliosP2P, SenzAgro.

Finances

Source: Annual Report, 2022/23 (p. 305)

References

References

1. "Annual Report 2022/23". John Keells Holdings PLC.
2. "John Keells Holdings".
3. "Colombo Stock Exchange".
4. "History {{!}} John Keells Holdings PLC, Sri Lanka".
5. "Times Treasured in History".
6. "John Keells Holdings PLC, JKH.N0000:CSE summary - FT.com".
7. LBO. (2013-08-19). "Sri Lanka's John Keells Holdings 'AAA(lka)' rating confirmed: Fitch".
8. "Sri Lanka 100 2020 {{!}} Brand Value Ranking League Table {{!}} Brandirectory".
9. "John Keells Logistics {{!}} About Us".
10. (2018-08-31). "Mackinnon Mackenzie building : Preserving the old world charm".
11. "John Keells X Open Innovation Challenge".