Vice President Finance
Emirates National Copper Factory LLC
Total years of experience :43 years, 1 Months
• Industry: B2B Copper and Aluminium Metal commodity Manufacturing segments catering to
Transformer, Switchgear, Cable and Earthing industries in the MENA region. Factory automated
over 80% to reduced labour usage. Activities include copper Rod casting, Copper and Aluminium
extrusion, Metal strip and wire drawing, Tin plating, enamel & Paper insulation coating in a round the clock manufacturing cycle.
• Promoted to Strategic Management as VP Finance since September 2019 from Head of Special projects dealing with investment on copper cathode production - Integration Project, in addition to overseeing Finance responsibilities. Built a pipeline of sharia compliant banking facilities, nearly double the finance requirements for material purchase to cover capacity expansion initiatives. Prioritized 40% of the products requiring scaling and conceptualized a CAPEX budget using equity and debt for implementation over the next 3 year period based on Market performance data. Led a Business Intelligence design team illustrating "Real Time Predictive Cash Flow" using Bank balance, forward contracts, collections and payment commitments that provided a visual trigger on the health of the company's liquidity positions over six months. Proactive Business Continuity Plan (BCP) ensured continuous factory operations while in total compliance to Covid-19 related restrictions and disruptions.
• As Head of Special Projects since Sep 2018 built a shortlist of 18 copper mining & refining projects in Africa and Prioritized 4 projects for due diligence to secure 45% of company's copper raw material requirements. Through networking in London, Tripled registered suppliers for Copper with 11% savings on supply chain premium and 64% savings on financing costs per ton of copper. Stringent Risk Management Policies implemented resulted in Zero loss due to metal price or currency fluctuation
• Promoted to Head of Procurements in Sep 2017 while supervising strategic duties as Finance Manager. Studied the ecosystem for copper Production and its supply chain costs around the world and specifically in Africa with a view to outline a procurement strategy for cost saving. Conceptualized Farm-Gate Procurement Project from Africa with a copper off-take initiative direct from the refineries in Africa saving 4.5% of the total cost of raw materials. Built new company standards for specifications with size and quality tolerance limits. Drove down the TCO and cost of carrying copper through Just-In-Time distributed storage and supply chain model.
• Joined as a Finance Manager in the startup phase of a cable factory in 2014. Reviewed feasibility
studies and joined the management team to name change from Arab Gulf cable factory to Emirates National copper entering to simultaneously serve 3 industries from 1 (Cables) originally intended. Built the systems and procedures for Finance, supply chain, HR, exports, imports and documentation. Recruited staff, implemented ERP and drove the company to break even points to be achieved with in 3 quarters. Built a financing capacity for 100% revenue growth in second commercial year. Drove operations to maintain a year-on-year Revenue growth of 40% leading to 2019. Physical Copper inventory positions are hedged against price fluctuation.
Industry: Company focuses on Shipping, Logistics and Supply Chain activities for Construction, 3PL storage facilities for food commodities, FMCG and Perfume Industry. Moves focused and general Cargo by Air, Sea, and Land across the world to Dubai and vice versa.
• Achievements: Opened branch Office near Dubai cargo village to improve KPI for lead time by 11% and on time delivery by 13% winning additional contracts. Drove company revenue by 68% of which 40% of high value contracts generated by myself in import, export, cross trade, 3PL warehousing segments. Accurate Costing analysis, bid evaluation and contract negotiation skills enabled Company to be 2% price competitive, winning a long-term contract for 3PL Logistics contract
• Raised finance requirements for the Dubai branch operations and 42% of banking facilities for working capital operations of the group. Drafted and implemented Policies, and SOP for Operations & HR and prepared company for ISO 9000 certification.
• Leased storage facilities with over 25, 000 pallet positions at competitive price to win major 3PL contract contributing over 30% of revenue for storage and distribution of Food, Textile and Perfumes
Industry: Real estate construction, building Materials industries with distribution through a branch network for wholesale and retail customers. Al Taher Group is one of the pioneers in the region, geographically spread group and followed a stock and sell business model with imports from Turkey, Oman, India etc. Key revenues came from Steel Rebars, Cement, Plywood, White wood, chemicals and Paints. Distributors for over 120 leading construction brands.
• Responsibility of growing group business with P&L responsibility, adding new Revenue Streams and Customer Segments. Key Achievements includes 22% reduction of investment in inventory and 8% increase in overall profitability through Branding, Contract manufacturing of top selling goods. Overhead Cost reduction by 13% by staff training, introduction of Logistics & supply chain management.
• Contracting skills with legal knowledge helped drive the Group away from effects from Global financial Crisis of 2009 changing Risk Mgt landscape. Reduced overheads by 22% over 2 years, Reduced bad debts from 4% to less than 1% over 2 year period, Reduced owners risk by changing the business structure and succession planning. Built financial discipline, KPI to reward staff, budgets Review and periodic reporting
• Certification for ISO 9000 Quality Process implementation for the Company, Improved Customer communication through Web presence and Social media
Industry: GGICO Group is an Investment company publicly listed in Dubai Financial Market with investment portfolio in 32 companies in manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Banking and insurance and several other segments.
Gulf Dura Industries LLC manufactured PPR Pipes by Extrusion and fittings by Injection molded products for the construction Industry while Gulf Engineering Services LLC operated in MEP projects and facilities management (FM)
• Promoted from Gulf Engineering in Nov 2009 to Startup Gulf Dura to establish new pipe manufacturing facility for GGICO Group. Achievements at gulf Dura included construction financing and supervision of installation of machineries and allied facilities. Led a cost saving drive by Relocation of the Mould shop into a completed part of the new factory under construction saving 7% of rental cost in preoperative cost estimates. Additional rental savings on administration bldg. was achieved by moving to an On-site prefab Office at a nearby group company site.
• Post financial crisis environment helped to renegotiate raw material supply contracts saving 22% below the budget as the market prices crashed. ISO 9000 Certification for the Company's facilities, and implementation of ERP system for manufacturing Process.
• Achievements in Gulf Engineering included 47% YOY Revenue increase through Recognizing Profit and Cost centers, ensured a strict cost regime and reorganization resulting in 3% overall monthly cost reduction, Increased MEP Project capacity resulting in 70% higher quotations and 27% new revenue. Increasing staff strength to meet delivery commitments and faster billing cycle
• Focused on Contract terminologies to drive company revenue by 13% from out of scope performance in regular contracts. Creation of Estimation division & following Industry best practices to improve professionalism in documentation and increasing customer satisfaction
Industry: Gateway was a leading US Computer brand started with the internet bubble of the nineties. Consisted of Gateway Inc. USA (Parent Co), Gateway Singapore PTE Ltd - Singapore (Regional HQ), Gateway Malaysia SDN BHD - Malaysia (Mfg Plant), Sherwoods Electronics (Pvt) Ltd - Sri Lanka (channel Retailer). Gateway Inc., was based in Irvine, California, manufactured and marketed a wide range of personal computers, Laptops, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories. It became a well-known brand in 1991 when it started shipping its computer hardware in cow-spotted boxes and for its creative advertising. Gateway was a popular Computer brand with plants in North America, Europe and Asia. In 1996 The Asian region Plant inaugurated in Malaysia, Regional sales controlled from Singapore and Resellers appointed in Asian capitals including Sri Lanka, ACER Taiwan acquired Gateway operations in October 2007.
• Achievements: Coordinate with Singapore HQ and Malaysian plant in setting up of distribution channels in Asia. This was the developmental stage for the Computer Industry. Internet was coming of age. IT bubble had started. Microsoft test-drive new operating systems from Windows 95 to 98. Investment, Competition and diversification was very high. Top brands such as HP, Compaq, IBM, Dell, Packard Bell, Acer, Toshiba etc were taking shape with high competitions driven by Intel and Microsoft in providing groundbreaking technologies.
• Financial Planning and costing to set up offices, Plants and Gateway Country stores in different parts of Asia. Managed financing operations under the Gateway New distribution Model. Coordinate evaluate and monitor Computer Resellers and dealers. Penetrated into Govt Tenders and Institutional buyers. Negotiated and approved settlement terms for key accounts increasing Sales Volume by 3.5 times for first 2 years.
• Financed Reseller channels to drive sales by Developing new Country stores across major Asian capitals, launching Gateway products in Sri Lanka with Sherwoods Electronics as a Strategic partner. Managing Advertising budgets for brand awareness and market penetration. Participated in Several Sales conferences to promote and Position brand, while ensuring justifiable ROI for regional HQ.
Industry: Southern Group operated in the Construction & Plantation Industries as a group of companies engaged in areas such as Civil & Road Construction Projects, Heavy Equipment Hiring, Quarry and Metal Crushing, Plastic Construction Material Manufacturing, Heavy equipment and vehicle Service Stations, Tea Plantations, Tea leaves Manufacturing Industries, Tea exports for branded markets
• Joined as Finance Manager of Southern Group Civil Construction engaged in Infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka in the construction of Roads, bridges, Irrigation, and other projects related to the multi-million-dollar Mahaweli river diversion Scheme to supply water for Agriculture. Built a group structure to bring all scattered profit centers in the verticals under a single umbrella by shifting the group office in Southern Sri Lanka to the Capital Colombo and created head office operations to supervise the group companies in both verticals. Southern Group Tea sector engaged in the Supply Chain Mgt for Tea Exports.
• Conceptualized group operations around the mainstream development projects in Sri Lanka that began in the late 1970's with a massive housing program, combined with a Village and Sub-urban development projects, building a new administrative Capital, diversion of the largest river from 1/3 of the Wet Zone to the dry zones of the country which receives less rainfall. The Company pioneered in venturing into Civil projects in the southern area while also entered the Ceylon TEA exports Industry which produced the best TEA for the world. The company was forced to start the supporting verticals due to absence of competitors initially and enjoyed supper profits.
• Achievements & Responsibilities included Financing Acquisitions, planning and budgeting for group operations, setting up Centralized Head Office and finance operations in Colombo. Drove construction project revenue by arranging bridging finances for 60 Kms of Japan/OECD funded Rathkinda Road project
• Drove Revenue from Tea factory segment by financing acquisition of existing Tea factories, as well as building new CTC tea factory in Mulatiyana. Managed Treasury & multi-currency Forex reserves of over USD 60 million. Introduced accounting systems to manage Supply Chain for Construction & Tea Industry verticals and consolidated Group Management Reporting and analytics. Financed building own head office in Colombo to support geographically spread projects, Revenue collection, and out of scope construction project claims using experts in claims management.
Industry: Machinery and equipment manufacturing company that went through several management changes to be finally acquired by Camso. Started operations with manufacture of Electric motors, Industrial and domestic water pumps (Jinasena brand), Solid Tyre manufacturing (Solideal, Loadstar brands), Ferrous castings, Garments (Hessing Garments), Processing of Prawns for exports (Sea & Land Services) etc. Partnership with the Belgian Solideal Group set up the world's largest solid tyre manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka operating 24/7 finally acquired by Camso.
• Responsibilities included preparation of Management Accounts for two group companies - Camso Loadstar and Jinasena as a member of the centralized Finance dept. of the group employing a workforce of over 3, 800, In charge for Import costing, productivity analysis, data processing, Management Information Reporting, Treasury management, security management for cash in transit, import export documentation.
• Led Finance & Procurement team to purchase Rubber raw materials for solid tyres achieving prices 9% below market value through brokers, Responsible for daily productivity reports of the manufacturing sector monitoring raw material qty inputs, processing waste and reporting output percentages as part of the management alert system, Prepare salaries and wages for production workers in the factories based on daily, monthly, piece rate, contract and performance based systems employed in the group.
• Cash flow forecast through management of PDC's, bank deposits, collection and accounting for returned cheques, Monitor and Reconcile branch collections, Accounting & Data entry, Preparation of monthly accounts, Import export documentation, coding, costing, coordinating shipments and logistics, Credit Management, Monitoring PO, for prices with markets and contracts, monitoring deliveries and balance, Prepare Stock Materials Stock Reports, Analyze overheads
Industry: KPMG is one of the Big 4 Audit firms represented in Sri Lanka by local audit company which operated under the brand providing Audit, Tax and Advisory Services along with other services such as company formation, Internal Audit Services, IT Services, Forensic and Litigation Services, due diligence services etc. KPMG in Sri Lanka has 12 Partners, 2 Principals, over 900 staff and operates with several geographically spread branches in Sri Lanka and an overseas branch in the Republic of Maldives. KPMG in Sri Lanka, is a member firm of KPMG International and of the cohesive business unit that serves the Middle East and South Asia (KPMG’s MESA business unit). In response to an environment requiring the resources of a globally aligned organization combined with detailed knowledge of local laws, regulations, markets and competition.
• Achievements & Responsibilities as an Articled apprenticeship, which intern is a pre requisite qualification for CA - Sri Lanka certification. Assisted Audit Team leader in conducting external Audits, Physical stock verification, Analysis of ledger, Reconciliations etc. Learnt basics of accounting and company management by physical verification of business documents
• Multiple language skills enabled leading multi-cultural Audit Team to coordinate large scale auditing assignments and complete Audits on time, Lead Audit Teams for several assignments managing and supervising the teams in Auditing and Reporting, Engaged in audit investigations, getting clarifications, physical sock cash counts, Drafting reports for my management, Training juniors in auditing methodologies, Information technology, and IFRS reporting standards. Audited very large commercial and governmental institutions including Markfed - Import export agricultural company with 128 branches island wide, Sri Lanka Plantation Corporation Tea estates - Hatton, Norwood, Peoples Bank - Several branch offices in and around Colombo
The Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) is a semi-autonomous body affiliated to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Its objectives are to promote advanced education and professionalism in management in Sri Lanka through the provision of postgraduate instruction, training, research, and development in the various branches of management and administrative studies. Today, it serves the national interests of professional management education and training on a wider scale providing challenging opportunities for learning and skills development to thousands of senior-level managers and administrators. Being the pioneer of advanced management education in Sri Lanka, PIM provides leadership to those who are in the business of innovating and disseminating management know-how as well as to those who are in search of higher learning alternatives. I started on MBA Program in 1995 and qualified all academic subjects and professional assignments prescribed for the course. I started on a dissertation topic of "The effect of personality on job satisfaction in the IT industry". I could not complete the research paper due to going outside the country and my research supervisor getting a political appointment as the secretary to the President of Sri Lanka. I was honoured with Postgraduate diploma in Business Administration in 2008 Course Title GPA Economics for management of Enterprises 12 Entrepreneurship 12 Financial Management 14 Human Behaviour in Organizations 12 International Business & Culture 16 International Marketing 12 Management Information System 16 Management Process & Perspectives 12 Managerial & Decission Accounting 16 Managing Modern Organizations 8 Marketing Management 12 Operations & Quality Management 14 Organizational Leadership & Strategy 16 Quantitative methods in Management 12 Research and Communication in Mgt 10
The Overseas Human Resources and Industry Development Association (HIDA) previously AOTS is an organization for human resources development in developing countries to promote technical cooperation through training, experts dispatch and other programs. Through those programs, we aim at contributing to the mutual economic growth of developing countries and Japan as well as enhancing friendly relations between those countries. The Objectives of AOTS is to contribute to the mutual economic development and friendly relations between Japan and overseas countries through implementing projects aimed at promoting the internationalization of industries and trade, as well as encouraging investment activities and international economic cooperation. Under the AOTS training program we had presentations from top Japanese business leaders like CEO's of Sony, Fuji Sieko, etc. visited manufacturing plants practising Just in Time production such as Toyota manufacturing plant in Nagoya, Sales offices in Tokyo, Ceramics manufacturing, Retail developments, FMCG and other service sectors
Recognized as the torch bearers of the accounting and auditing profession in Sri Lanka, the institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) is one of the country’s foremost and largest professional organizations that has produced over 5,400 chartered accountants. The Institute provides leadership and insight to the accountancy and finance profession in Sri Lanka as well as globally. Our well qualified members are trained to provide financial knowledge and guidance based on the highest professional, technical and ethical standards, thereby assisting communities and organizations gain long term sustainable economic growth. We are one of the largest tertiary education providers outside the university system of Sri Lanka with a student base of over 44,000 . Key facts Name The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) Founded 1959 (Act of Parliament No. 23 of 1959) Primary Office 30A, Malalasekara Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. Members Over 4,400 (Associate and Fellow members). Students Over 44,000 Subjects Covered: Strategic Management Accounting (13304) Commercial Law & Corporate Law (16304) Advanced Taxation & Strategic Tax Planning (15304) Strategic Financial Management (21404) Advanced Audit & Assurance (23404) Financial Reporting Framework (IFRS) (12306) Financial Accounting (01104) Advanced Financial Reporting (20404) Business Strategy & Knowledge Management (22404) Accounting Applications & Taxation (08204)
