Tea with Murali Prakash

CEO/MD, Browns Group of Companies
 

Hathoon Sheriffdeen

Q: How did Browns and Company start in Sri Lanka?

A: The Browns Group of Companies was started 132 years ago in Sri Lanka by James Brown. It was a small outlet to service and sell spare parts for bicycles in Hatton. After sometime James Brown got a chance to service estate machineries, and started that business also in Hatton.

In the 1970s, Browns Group of Companies spread out its business and was doing well in the market. It was the time the company was well recognised in the market. It was well known in the automations and machinery retail market.

Q: Brown and Company is known as an English company in the market place. What are your views on this?

A: Well, James Brown was an English. He started the company the company had been practising the standards of trade according to standards he followed. Then the Cooray Family had the management. After some time the Cooray family held the total management and ownership.

Q: Does the Browns Group of Companies have any connection with HNB?

A: It was during 1947 that Browns Group of Companies started HNB with the name of Hatton Bank. Hatton Bank was started to provide financial assistance to tea estates a part from its normal financial activities. This was the period of Cooray family's time.

Two and half years before the ownership was taken over by the Directors of the present Browns Group of Companies.

Q: Is the Company doing well?

A: The company was profitable from the time it was established. It was well stabilised during 1970s, The Cooray family had invested on various businesses in the late 70s and the records show that there was tremendous growth and the company was brought up to bluechip standards.

In the late 1980s, the company fell and was not doing well in the market. Two and half years before, the Cooray family sold their holding in the Company to the present management.

Q: What can be the reason the Cooray family to sell their holdings of the company to the present directors?

A: It was sold after the death of Crishantha Cooray. The reason for their disposal was not very much known.

Q: Was the company profitable during that period? What can be the reason?

A: Records showed a moderate profit during that time. It is around Rs. 100 million. It's a moderate profit compared to last year's profit of Rs. 480 million. I feel the reason can be the change, for trade liberalisation was not sufficient during that period. May be I can say it's not fast enough. Now, the new management had changed a lot . They have refreshed the whole set up.

Q: How many factories do you have in Sri Lanka?

A: We have five factories all together. One is in Ratmalana, manufacturing and assembling marine machines.

Another joint venture with Dimo manufactures radiators, a battery manufacturing plant with a partnership with Exide Batteries called Associated Battery Manufacturers, IG Browns- which is in collaboration with a German partner, manufactures rubber based spare parts for vehicles and export to various countries and we have a manufacturing plant for wood care paint called "Massons" as well.

We manage the radiator manufacturing plant and the Associated Battery Manufactures is managed by the Exide Batteries.

Q: Do you find skilled workers hard to find for your factories?

A: It was not a problem for us, to find skilled labour in the market. Excluding the Associated Battery Manufacturers we have 200 workers. Our manufacturing plants were not very much work oriented factories. It varies with each other and varies according to the factory capacity and trade capacity.

Q: Is Masson a new brand name?

A: We started to promote the Masson brand very recently in the market. That's why its not very often heard with the people. The most famous brand we manufacture is Runnak polish. One year before we revitalised the product.

Q: What are the changes you see with the new management?

A: The management realised that Browns is brand oriented. We are managing to maintain that continuously, and the management is proactive for the market conditions too as necessary.

We have brought in various managers with various disciplines to sharpen the skills of the existing managers. That had built a new managerial team at Browns. The management rationalised the brands and the divisions on focusing on the industry.

The new management also believes in training the employees and develops the skill levels of the employees. It's also in the process of building the HR infrastructural hierarchy in the company. This will give a chance for the employees to grow within the company in their career.

Q: What are the most profitable brands of Browns Group?

A: The most profitable brands are tractors but the most growing profit for the brands of hardware and batteries.

Q: What can be the reason for these brands to do well in the market?

A: The main reason is the good brand management. When the new management took over the company they first considered on the brand building. The innovative combination methods and restructuring the divisions in the company was maintained.

Q: How many brands do you have? How are you managing them?

A: We have 65 brands. Some of them we manufacture and market and some we market within the country. It's hard if its not structured well. We have positioned the brands according to the market segments or product categories.

Q: Tell me about the company's financial performance in 2007?

A: In the first six months sales growth was 25 per cent. There was some issues in financing due the interest cost and the Rupee devaluation. We managed to maintain a margin anyway.

Machinery's point of view, we found hard to pick up the market, because, the Yala season was not doing well.

The hardware and battery sectors are doing well this time.