John Keells
In which year did we first invest?
We first invested in John Keells in 1997.
Where is their head office?
The head office is in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
What does the company do?
Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerate operating in several sectors including leisure (hotels & resorts in Sri Lanka and Maldives), transportation (ports and logistics infrastructure), consumer foods (beverages and ice cream), retail (supermarket chain) and property and financial services (banking and insurance).
Why do we like the investment?
JKH is a diversified group with high-quality assets that serves as a good proxy for the Sri Lankan economy. It is essentially a large company operating in a small market. Management have executed well and the Group has been able to attract the best talent locally which should ensure that they continue to thrive over the long-term, especially given the exciting potential for Sri Lanka in areas such as tourism and transhipment. Despite the tough economic backdrop, management have been using their strong cash-flow to invest across the business with a particular focus on a large multi-use property in Colombo which is finally reaching completion.