PREFACE
The Admiration Stakes
The 20th annual edition of the Most Respected ranks the nation’s most admired organisations
As US businessman, investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett once said, “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
In the topsy-turvy environment that has persisted since 2020 – and with that sense of uncertainty still looming large on the horizon as Sri Lanka prepares to endure the election season – the nation’s business houses have demonstrated remarkable resilience and leadership.
Respected and admired corporates understand that to build a reputation takes more than a little effort – and how easily it can be destroyed.
Corporates and organisations alike have thrived and navigated through myriad obstacles of the past year. And their experiences offer valuable lessons in adaptability, perseverance and strategic foresight.
Despite gloomy forecasts for 2024, the world economy has shown remarkable resilience, achieving steady but tepid growth and a gradual taming of the inflation spiral.
Nevertheless, the journey has been eventful, beginning with supply chain disruptions following the pandemic, followed by the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s Gaza war.
As in previous years, the Most Respected special edition ranks entities on the basis of an exclusive survey – commissioned and conceptualised by LMD, and conducted by PepperCube Consultants for the first time.
For a record 15th consecutive year, and 19 of the 20 years since the pioneering rankings were first published, John Keells Holdings (JKH) is ranked the Most Respected entity in the country by dint of garnering a score of 884.
Hayleys reclaims the runner-up spot, surpassing apparel giant MAS Holdings with a tally of 501 points. The diversified conglomerate regains second place, which it occupied in 2022.
Commercial Bank of Ceylon (ComBank) climbs one spot, moving up a notch from fourth to third place with a score of 454 points.
And MAS Holdings relinquishes its hold on second place, dropping to No. 4 this year (with 450 points).
Dialog Axiata retains its fifth spot in the Most Respected rankings, securing 330 points.
This year, the economy has shown signs of a gradual revival following the deepest economic downturn in Sri Lanka’s post-independence history. And businesses have begun to lift their heads so to speak – there are some signs of improvement as Sri Lanka announced that it is no longer in a state of bankruptcy.
It would seem that many businesses have adapted to the new economic order, leveraging the stabilised macroeconomic environment to rebuild and expand.
What’s more, the somewhat brighter outlook is corroborated by the stabilisation of business confidence in recent months although we will have to wait till after the presidential election to know whether or not this trend is sustainable.
