Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC)

Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) Home Page as of October 2022

Background

Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) holds the monopoly of cigarette manufacturing and sales in Sri Lanka. It is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT), which owned 84.13% of the shares as of 31 December 2021. Even though BAT started its operations in Sri Lanka in 1904-1911 period, CTC was only established as a company in 1932. CTC is engaged in the complete manufacturing process of cigarettes in Sri Lanka, from tobacco cultivation to cigarette production. CTC owns 99% of the market with the remaining 1% comprising of imported cigarettes. Almost 100% of the tobacco used for cigarette manufacturing in Sri Lanka is cultivated in the country, which accounted for approximately 1,602.1 tons of tobacco in 2021. CTC also exports its manufactured cigarettes, which contributes approximately 1% to its overall annual revenue. Headquartered in Colombo, CTC operates via two factories; the Colombo Factory and the Green Leaf Threshing Plant in Kandy.

The CTC cigarette brands include John Player Gold Leaf (JPGL), Dunhill, Benson & Hedges, Capstan, Bristol, John Player Navy Cut, John Player Gold, State Express 555 and Shuangxi International.

Directors and Employees: Past and Present

CTC is managed by a Board of Directors and an Executive Committee. In 2022, Board of Directors, headed by the Chairman, consisted of Eight Directors, of which 6 were Non-Executive Directors. The Executive Committee headed by the Chief Executive Officer also had five members. Suresh Kumar Shah was appointed the Chairman of CTC since 1st February 2022 and Monisha Abraham as the Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director since 1st December 2021. A complete list of CTC's Board of Directors and the Executive Committee members can be found on the CTC website. In 2020, the number of permanent employees of CTC was 269, of which 16.7% (N=45) were reported as females.

Details on past or present CTC employees and Directors listed below can be found in the respective TobaccoUnmasked pages:

Emma Ridley | Dinesh Weerakkody | Denis Perera | Ken Balendra | Lakmali Nanayakkara | Michael Koest | Ramesh Nanayakkara | Rukshan Gunatilaka | Stanley Wanigasekara | Susantha Ratnayake | Monisha Abraham

Subsidiaries

Up to 2017, CTC owned the following subsidiaries:

• Advent International
• CTC Briquettes Limited
• CTC Eagle
• CTC Exports Limited
• CTC Foliage Limited
• CTC Leaf Exports Limited
• Outreach Projects (Guarantee) Limited
• CTC Services Limited

As of July 2022, Outreach Projects (Guarantee) Limited is the only subsidiary owned by the CTC.

Investors

As of 31st December 2021, the number of shareholders of the CTC was 4,440. It was an increase by 531 from the number reported in 2020. Following were the 20 largest shareholders (in the descending order):

British American Tobacco International Holdings | Philip Morris Brand SARL | CB NY S/A Allan Gray Frontier Markets Equity Fund Limited | Pershing LLC S/A Averbach Grauson & Co. | SSBT-AL MEHWAR COMMERCIAL INVESTMENTS L.L.C | Northen Trust Company S/A - Fundsmith Emerging Equities Trust PLC | JB Cocoshell (Pvt) Ltd | RBC Investor Services Bank | Mrs. Jasbinderjit Kaur Piara Singh | Miss Neesha Harnam | Deutsche Bank AG Singapore A/C 01 | Mr. Jayawardena Sanjeeva Praneeth | Harnam Holdings SDN BHD | SSBT-Frank Russel Trust Company Comingled Benefit Fund Trust GNA | Seylan Bank PLC/W.D.N.H. Perera | Bank of Ceylon No 1 Account | Deutsche Bank AG AS Trustee For JB vantage Value Equity Fund | BNYM RE- GHI Holdings Mauritius | Mr. Ratnayake Susantha Chaminda | SSBT-PARAMETRIC Tax-Managed Emerging Markets Fund

They collectively owned 96.65% of shares. Except for JB Cocoshell (Pvt) Ltd, Bank of Ceylon No 1 Account, Seylan Bank PLC/W.D.N.H. Perera, Mr. Ratnayake Susantha Chaminda and Mr. Jayawardena Sanjeeva Praneeth, all the others were foreign investors.<ref=Annual2021/>

Affiliations

Individuals and institutions with affiliations to CTC are detailed in the pages in following categories:

• Commissioned or Sponsored – Individuals or institutions commissioned or sponsored by CTC
• Consultants – Individuals or institutions with a history of provision of consultancy services to CTC
• Indirect Links – Individuals or institutions sponsored or commissioned by institutions directly linked to CTC
• Institutions with Mutual Associates - Institutions in which Directors/employees of CTC are Directors/employees/members
• Institutions Governed by Tobacco Industry – Institutions in which executive positions are assigned to CTC employees or directors as a representative of CTC
• Tobacco Industry Directors and Employees - Past and present Chairmen, Directors and employees of CTC
• Tobacco Industry Investors - Individuals or institutions invested in CTC or other tobacco industry

Activities

CTC’s activities in Sri Lanka are detailed in the pages in following catagories:

• Corporate Social Investments - activities themed as ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ and sponsorships of social events/activities by the CTC or its employees (using the company name and/or the title)
• Influencing Policy – attempts to influence policies and litigations against the government
• Marketing and Promotions - activities to promote products, brands or smoking habit, marketing strategies and activities to promote the image of the company
• Tobacco Cultivation – influences and interventions on tobacco farming and famers
• Tobacco Tax and Pricing Related Issues – responses to tobacco tax policies and increase of cigarette price
• Liaising with Government Officials – collaborating with government officials to influence policies or implement CTC activities
• Involvement in Illicit Tobacco Trade – influences and interventions related to tobacco smuggling and illicit tobacco trade
• Tobacco Industry Arguments – arguments against tobacco control measures and the science behind them
• Tobacco Industry Responses – responses for accusations/queries from the authorities/scientists/public or for tobacco control policies/actions
• Interfering in Tobacco Control Actions - activities to interfere with the tobacco control actions taken by the government
• Partnerships - activities of CTC with a history of collaboration/partnership with Individuals or institutions
• Sponsorship for Government Activities - sponsoring for government activities to influence policies or to promote the image of the company
• Sponsorship for Research - sponsoring for government/private institutions or individuals to manipulate the Science and to influence related public health policies and tobacco control actions
• Sponsorship for Social Projects - sponsoring for social projects to promote the image of the company

Community Protests at the 2018 AGM

In 2018 April a protest was held in front of the CTC headquarters at the day of the Annual General Meeting (AGM), commemorating, with an all-faith service, the Sri Lankans who lost their lives due to cigarette smoking (Image 2). The protesters appealed to the investors to stop investing in a business that kills its consumers (Image 3). A similar protest was reported in 2016.

Image 02: A protest at the CTC headquarters in its AGM held on April 2018

Image 03: Ada newspaper reporting the protest

Punished for Delaying Court Procedures

In June 2018, Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ordered CTC to pay a plaintiff, who had filed a case for damages against them, an amount of LKR 400,000 (USD 2,500) as legal costs for deliberately delaying the court case at a lower court for 12 years. The court case in question was initiated by a widow of a smoker seeking compensation for the lung cancer related death of her husband. Please see our page Ceylon Tobacco Sued for a Smoker’s Death for more details.

Tobacco Unmasked Resources

• Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC)
• British American Tobacco (BAT)
• Emma Ridley
• Dinesh Weerakkody
• Denis Perera
• Ken Balendra
• Lakmali Nanayakkara
• Michael Koest
• Ramesh Nanayakkara
• Rukshan Gunatilaka
• Stanley Wanigasekara
• Susantha Ratnayake
• Monisha Abraham
• Advent International
• CTC Eagle
• Outreach Projects (Guarantee) Limited
• Ceylon Tobacco Sued for a Smoker’s Death

The local language translations

Relevant Link

Ceylon Tobacacco Company’s website