Managing Director Access Engineering Christopher Joshua said that his organization had resumed construction on some key projects. Joshua was amongst other leading CEOs speaking to Echelon decode on May 1. Other panelists also noted other signs of the economy opening up.
Joshua said, “Some of the key projects that we had already commenced. We have lobbied with the relevant authorities and they have been understanding. We have been operational in five worksites and today six worksites.”
Joshua added “This is going to be a recession. We are trying to asses our lateral levels (lowest level of activity during a recession). We are considering the lateral levels for every business and for how long can we stay there. We have to see how best to restructure.”
Access Engineering has resumed construction on Sri Lanka’s largest warehouse for CAMSO Loadstar with a roof spanning 14 acres.
Director Hidramani Ranil Pathirana said that it was difficult for his organization to make predictions on the length of the crisis. He said that rival production region Vietnam had remained open throughout the crisis and that other rival Bangladesh had closed for only a short period. Pathirana said it was difficult to assess the scale and longevity of PPE demand but at the moment it was in the scope of hundreds of millions of pieces.
CEO Hemas Steven Enderby said that online sales volumes had grown 6-7 fold over the crisis. The pharmaceutical line of the business had maintained revenues at 100 percent of budgeted values. Healthcare and household goods had declined between 25-50 percent of expected revenue. The leisure sector currently has no revenue.
Enderby said “cashflow is all that matters. In some places, all we are trying to do is go to cash-break even.” Enderby predicts household for soap and toothpaste to remain buoyant post-crisis but expects varied impacts on other business verticals within the group.
Chairman Sri Lankan Airlines, Softlogic Ashok Pathirage said that his hospitals are running at 25 percent of revenue goals as doctors are putting off the channeling patients during the crisis. CEO Dialog Supun Weerasinghe said that there had been significant changes to network demand. There had been a 30-40 percent increase in demand during the day time mainly from households. The demand peak from 6 pm to 11 pm had been slightly reduced.
Over 70 percent of Dialog’s customer base is on prepaid subscriptions and as such is facing difficulty topping up. 1 million television customers are also on a prepaid basis. Postal billing has been impacted by the lack of mail. Collection on subscription charges had been affected heavily in March and even more so in April.
Enterprise customers make up 17 percent of Dialog revenue and the firm expects to have to offer discounts and conversions to retail consumption. The company is expecting a 10 percent revenue drop through the crisis.
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