The Chairman of the listed ACL Cables PLC, U. G. Madanayake says this is despite repeated attempts by them to convince the government to extend a level playing field with regard to the participation and supply of cables and conductors to large scale projects of the government including the CEB.
“We have had only limited success to date” Madanayake added in the firm’s latest annual report.
According to him, continued discrimination against the local cable manufacturers at every stage of tendering and supply continues to frustrate them.
Apart from the above discrimination, Madanayake points out that high interest rates due to increased borrowing by the Government and highly restricted granting of credit to deserving customers will have a negative impact on the buying powers of the people.
“While this reduces the demand for cables, it increases our borrowing costs significantly affecting the profitability” added Madanayake in the Chairman’s review of the firm’s latest annual report.
However, he believes that the Government’s desire to promote tourism, electrification and infrastructure development is good news for the local cable industry since it will boost the demand for cable and conductors both in the medium and long term.
ACL Cable has achieved a group turnover of Rs. 10.3 billion during the year 2011/2012 financial year, an increase of 7% over the previous year.
http://www.news360.lk/business-finance/news-sri-lanka-14-08-2012-local-cable-firms-not-given-a-fair-chance-to-access-government-projects-%E2%80%93-cable-manufacturer-990871