Investor-Relations | Lion-Brewery

Why Invest in Lion

Lion Brewery is the pioneer and largest brewing company in Sri Lanka, consistently growing sales and share across markets and consumer segments. We deliver our strategic priorities through a business model that leverages local and global expertise and capability.

Lion Brewery’s market dominance leverages the company’s core strengths of brand building, scale and route to consumer. Our iconic brand Lion Stout, Asia’s Most Awarded Stout, and flagship brand Lion Beer, are each well positioned to compete within both core and premium consumer segments.

We have invested in long-standing relationships with Carlsberg and Diageo and our well-rounded portfolio from beer brands to spirits enables us to keep pace with consumer tastes, trends, and repertoire, and a broad range of occasions and price points.

Over the past three decades beer has marked a strong record of value growth amid a macro environment of uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, and a global pandemic. Lion Beer continued to maintain its market dominance and achieved topline growth in value terms, surpassing the country’s GDP growth during this period.

Growth is enabled by iconic brands, the efficiency of our supply chain, availability through route to consumer, affordability of products across social economic classes, and a Beer category that is positively perceived by new entrants, especially female consumers.

Core Superiority: We have built a strong platform for growth by investing and driving relevance in our mainstream core brands in the Beer category.

Balanced portfolio: Our well-rounded portfolio is led by mainstream core brands with added investments in premium to capture the unique opportunities that exist in each segment and place resources directly against our biggest growth opportunities.

Growing beyond shores: We export our beers to 17 developed and emerging markets, and continue to grow our share in the larger Food & Beverage exports category.

We develop unique, intimate and winning relationships with our customers through distribution and sales. Working together with retail partners to build the best route to consumer, supported by a supply chain that is resilient, agile and proven to respond at pace, is a key competitive advantage. This emphasis on execution enables us to improve commercialization of the business and deliver superior customer service.

Our parent company, Carson Cumberbatch PLC, is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange and has a history of creating sustained, quality growth based on strong financial management. Fitch Ratings has affirmed a AAA rating for Lion Brewery.

We operate a state-of-the-art brewery that is fully SAP-integrated with the ability to produce 2.4 million hectolitres a year. Carson Cumberbatch invest for the long run to support Lion Brewery’s growth plans through continuous capital infusion.

Sustainable double-digit topline growth and productivity savings have enabled investments in strategic acquisitions, trade and consumer, and upgrading production capacity. A new mini-brewery slated to launch in 2024 will strength our product development capability, a critical growth enabler as we expand internationally.

Corporate Governance

Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC is committed to the highest standards of corporate governance in order to:

Achieve long-term shareholder value
Improve management systems while keeping an eye on strategic growth
Help the company consider the best interests of all stakeholders
Instill trust with investors

Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC Corporate Governance

Good corporate governance is the responsibility of our Board of Directors, the Senior Leadership Team and Operational Excellence Team, and other employees, who are bound by our Code of Conduct. This Code incorporates best practices for our business, and complies with the Listing Rules of the Colombo Stock Exchange.

The Board of Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC (“Lion Brewery”) is elected by the shareholders to oversee their interests and collectively accountable for good corporate governance.

The Board effectively guides our strategy and oversees the members of the Senior Leadership Team, who are charged with conducting the business of the company. It is responsible for ensuring that Lion Brewery is managed for the long-term benefit of all shareholders, through effective and efficient decision-making.

In addition to adhering to corporate governance requirements in Sri Lanka, the Listing Rules of the Colombo Stock Exchange, Lion Brewery reviews its corporate governance standards at least once a year to meet internationally accepted principles of good governance and best practice.

Lion Brewery maintains a majority non-executive Board with diverse backgrounds, qualifications, skills and experiences. In addition, the Board has established committees to facilitate and assist in the execution of the Board’s responsibilities. The four most important committees are the Audit Committee, the Related Party Transactions Review Committee, the Remuneration Committee, and the Nominations Committee.

Responsible for assisting the Board of Directors in fulfilling its oversight for the financial reporting process, the system of internal control over financial reporting, the audit process and monitoring compliance with laws and regulations, company policies and procedures, and the Code of Conduct. The Audit Committee of Lion Brewery’s ultimate parent company, Carson Cumberbatch PLC (CCPLC), which owns both Ceylon Beverage Holdings PLC (CBHPLC) which in turn owns Lion Brewery, serves as the Audit Committee of Lion Brewery.

Responsible for reviewing all Lion Brewery’s related party transactions which are broadly categorized as recurrent and non-recurrent and approval granted according to the company’s laid out Party Code.

Responsible for assisting the Board of Directors with the remuneration of its Non-Executive Directors. The Remuneration Committee of CCPLC recommends pay for Non-Executive Directors of the company and subsidiary boards. Non-Executive Directors are not involved in Remuneration Committee meetings when determinations are made in relation to the remuneration of the respective Directors. The Committee is authorized by the Board to seek appropriate professional advice internally and externally before making recommendations.

Responsible for recommending new appointments to Lion Brewery’s Board of Directors. The Nominations Committee of Carson Cumberbatch PLC functions as the Nominations Committee for Lion Brewery, vetting potential candidates by assessing their track record within their respective industries and their ability to contribute to long-term growth and the goals of Lion Brewery. Based on the recommendation of the Nomination Committee, the Board approves the new appointments of Executive and Non-Executive directors to the Board.

Further information on the Terms of Reference of each of the Committees as well as the Board of Directors can be found in Lion Brewery’s Annual Report.