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[April 2003]
Sri Lankan Tableware Producer Targets New Markets
Sri Lankan ceramic tableware manufacturer Dankotuwa Porcelain will enter six
new export markets later this year - Australia, Turkey, Belgium, France,
Germany and Sweden - according to a recent report in the Daily News.The company's present export markets are in the USA, UK, Italy, Japan and
Spain. Reportedly, the shift in product strategy has also facilitated a
turnround of Dankotuwa's performance to a Rs. 38.2 million post-tax profit
for the year ended 31 December 2002, from a Rs. 1.2 million loss the year
before.The company also recorded its highest turnover to date, up 19% to Rs. 766
million from Rs. 642 million the year before.Dankotuwa's CEO, Kithsiri Wijesundera, spoke to the Daily News and said:
"The problem that the company faced in 2001 was that it was losing all the
existing markets as the product range that we had at that time was platinum
decorated porcelain which was shrinking. We changed the export marketing
strategy with a new product line which was centred around products where the
unit prices were low, which sold in large volumes".
ENDS