Hayleys

History

The beginnings of the Hayleys Group can be traced back to 1878 when Charles P Hayley disembarked from the Percy Douglas, a 781-tonne clipper ship on to the shores of Galle, Sri Lanka.

Chas Hayley founded the forerunner of Hayleys, Chas P. Hayley, in 1878, to trade in coconut fibres. In 1909, he entered into partnership with W. W. Kenny to purchase Thurburn Stores, at Deans Road.

Hayley and Kenny and Chas P. Hayley were made Private Limited Companies in 1935 and 1943, respectively. In 1954 under one corporate umbrella, the entity went public. Hayleys Ltd continued to diversify into a portfolio that currently includes activated carbon, rubber gloves, textiles, fibre based products, tea and rubber plantations, transportation and logistics services, consumer products, and other investments and services to name just a few.

Hayleys and its associates have forged successful partnerships with global giants such as Mercedes-Benz, TATA International, Dystar, Symrise, Bayer Cropscience, Philips Lighting, Polymer Latex, Volvo, Fujifilm, P&G, Shimadzu, Fedex and Gillette, to name just a few. Its adherence to the tenets of good corporate governance and ethical practices has made it one of the most respected companies in Sri Lanka and a corporate inspiration to many others.

Despite such unfavorable conditions such as an ethnic conflict that had claimed 65,000 lives since 1983, rampant inflation, and devastation and 30,000 deaths caused by the tsunami of 2004, Hayleys has survived and evolved into a US$300 million firm. The company has now transformed from its roots as a trading company into an industrial and services conglomerate.

In addition to Sri Lanka, Hayleys today has manufacturing facilities in Indonesia and Thailand and marketing operations in Australia, India, Bangladesh, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, UK and USA and its products are sold in 80 countries.

Corporate affairs

Hayleys is a Sri Lankan diversified conglomerate headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Its main offices are located in and around the premises; however other manufacturing, agricultural, marketing and production bases are geographically spread around the country and throughout five different continents.

Hayleys PLC, the Group’s holding company, has an AA-(Ika) by Fitch and a market capitalisation of 1.08%. However the composition of the entire Group includes 8 other publicly listed companies. The blue chip recorded its highest profits in the twelve months ending 31 March 2010, and made its single largest investment in its 130 plus year history – the buying over of the five star Ceylon Continental Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka now known as The Kingsbury. In 2010, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce ranked Hayleys as the country’s best corporate citizen, based on an analysis of several factors of CSR and sustainability, implemented throughout public and private spheres.

Corporate recognition

In 2010, Hayleys Group was named Sri Lanka’s Best Corporate Citizen by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

The firm brought fame and recognition to the country by winning a European Foundation for Management Development Award for the INSEAD produced case study featuring the company, and winning the USAID Global Development Alliance Award for Sri Lanka for fostering commercial agriculture in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province.

In 2012, the Hayleys Group was ranked amongst the top three most respected business entities in Sri Lanka and placed first for Nation-Mindedness in Lanka Monthly Digest’s ‘Most Respected Entities In Sri Lanka’ survey, the Group’s best standing since 2008.

In 2015, Hayleys PLC was ranked the No.1 company in the LMD's Top 100 listed companies of Sri Lanka

Hayleys Lighting is the sole agent for Philips CFL, LED, incandescent and fluorescent lights in Sri Lanka. Other than domestic lighting, Hayleys Lighting also provide solutions for industrial light installation for grounds, offices and hospitals.