Hayleys PLC, founded in 1878 by Charles Pickering Hayley, is a multinational and diversified conglomerate company in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, publicly listed on the

Colombo Stock Exchange The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) (; ) is the main stock exchange in Sri Lanka that utilizes an electronic trading platform. The CSE headquarters have been located at the World Trade Center (Colombo) Towers in Colombo since 1995, and it has regi ...

with business spanning over 16 sectors, catering to 80 markets worldwide. Hayleys accounts for approximately 5% of Sri Lanka's export income, and 4.6% of the country's

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

and 4.1% of its rubber production. With over 36,000 employees, Hayley was also the first listed entity in the country to surpass annual revenue of US$1 billion in Fiscal Year 2017/18. The company operates over 16 business sectors: eco-solutions, hand protection, purification,

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, consumer and retail,

leisure Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, Employment, work, job hunting, Housekeeping, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as ...

textile manufacturing Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

construction materials This is a list of building materials. Many types of building materials are used in the construction industry to create buildings and structures. These categories of materials and products are used by architects and construction project managers to ...

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s, industrial solutions, power and

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

, transportation and logistics, BPO, tea exports, projects and engineering, and investments and services. Hayleys comprises over 180 business units and subsidiaries, twelve of which are publicly listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Hayleys PLC is a public listed company with over 15,147 shareholders as of March 31, 2024. In addition to Sri Lanka, Hayleys today has manufacturing facilities in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, with marketing operations in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, UK,

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, and its products are sold in 80 countries.

History

Early Years 1871 Onwards

The beginnings of the Hayleys Group can be traced back to 1871 when Charles Pickering Hayley (1848–1934), the son of British businessman, Thomas Hayley (1807–1881), disembarked from the ''Percy Douglas'', a 781-tonne clipper ship (owned by Thomas Hayley), at

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The ship subsequently was wrecked off the coast of

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Hayley joined a firm of shipping agents, Thomson Mitchell & Co, in 1874. When the company closed three years later due to bad investments, he rented a shop on Pedlar Street in Galle Fort and started his own import/export company, Chas. P. Hayley & Co., on 10 January 1878, exporting local products including coir, cinnamon and citronella oil and importing goods such as British

claret Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gir ...

. Hayley married Gertrude Fanny Lee (1849–1911), the daughter of George Lee, the

Postmaster General of Ceylon The Postmaster General of Sri Lanka is the appointed head of Sri Lanka Post, which is a government department. The current Postmaster General is Ranjith Ariyaratne. History The first mail service in Ceylon, was in 1788, established by the Dutc ...

(1844–1860) and Martha née Austin. The couple had six children and in 1893 his oldest son, Alec (1875–1936), joined the firm, followed by another son, Stuart Pickering (1883–1960), eight years later. In 1909, he entered into a partnership with W. W. Kenny to purchase Thurburn Stores, at Deans Road. Hayley and Kenny became a Private Limited Company in 1935 and Chas P. Hayley & Co. becomes a private limited liability company and fully owned subsidiary of Hayley and Kenny Ltd. in 1944. 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, leisure, transportation and logistics services, consumer products, and other investments and services to name just a few. In 1958, its shipping agency department was restructured as Maritime Agencies Ltd, which later evolved into Hayleys Advantis. In the 1960s, Hayleys partnered with Bayer of Germany to establish Haychem Ltd for agrochemical production. A period of innovation followed with the establishment of Haycarb Ltd to produce activated carbon from coconut shell charcoal, a pioneering value-added export. The company further expanded by acquiring Ravi Industries Ltd, a coir brush manufacturer, and founding Dipped Products Ltd for rubber glove production. By 1983, Hayleys launched its first international venture in the United States, now known as Haycarb USA Inc. Throughout the subsequent decade, the company diversified further into hospitality, plantations, and textiles.

2000 - Present

Hayleys steps into power generation in collaboration with AES corporation of USA in 2001. Hayleys entered the ship-owning business in 2003 with a maiden investment in the container vessel "Orient Stride". 2003 also saw the first overseas plant setup by

Dipped Products Dipped Products PLC is a rubber glove manufacturer in Sri Lanka. The company also manages rubber and tea plantations. The company was incorporated in 1976 and listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1983. The company is one of the components of th ...

Ltd. 2006 saw Hayleys adopt a new visual identity, replacing its former logo of 50 years. In 2008, Hayleys became one of the 10 signatories for the CEO Water Mandate initiative of the UN's Global Compact. In 2008, Dhammika Perera became the majority shareholder of Hayleys. Hayleys continued to grow and expand through the decades with a series of strategic acquisitions, such as the acquisition of the Ceylon Continental Hotel in Colombo in 2010 (which at the time was the single largest investment in its history), and that of Alumex Group and Amaya Leisure PLC in 2011. The Ceylon Continental Hotel was rebranded and unveiled as The Kingsbury Hotel in 2012. Hayleys also made forays into the renewable energy industry from 2013 onwards, through its wind power, hydropower and solar power plants located in advantageous locations in Sri Lanka. The Advantis Free Zone was opened for operations in 2015. In 2016, Hayleys acquired a 75% controlling stake in Fentons Group (subsequently rebranded as Hayleys Fentons) and purchased the Kuda Rah Resort in the Maldives (which became Amaya Kuda Rah). In 2017, Hayleys acquired 61.73% of the equity in Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC (the single largest acquisition for a listed company in Sri Lanka in recent times), as well as the majority stake in Sri Lanka Shipping Company Limited, a leading shipping and maritime organization, making Advantis the largest vessel operator. Hayleys celebrated "140 years of excellence" in 2018. In 2018, Hayleys entered into a strategic partnership with Martin Bauer group of Germany, renaming Hayleys Global Beverages as Martin Bauer Hayleys with the joint venture investment by MB Beteligungs GmbH. In April 2021,

Hayleys Fabric Hayleys Fabric PLC, formerly known as Hayleys MGT Knitting Mills, is a knitted fabric manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. Hayleys MGT Knitting Mills was founded in 1993 as a joint venture between Hayleys and MGT Knitting Mills of Australia. The c ...

acquired a 98.84% stake in South Asia Textiles Limited as part of its strategic plan to export value-added fabrics. Hayleys Lifecode was launched in 2022 as a roadmap for the conglomerate Hayleys PLC to achieve its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. Hayleys and its associates have forged successful partnerships with

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

TATA International The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 c ...

, Dystar,

Symrise Symrise AG is a German chemicals company that is a major producer of flavours and fragrances with sales of €4.999 billion i2024 Major competitors include Givaudan, Takasago International Corporation, International Flavors and Fragrances and ...

Bayer Cropscience Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's a ...

Philips Lighting Signify N.V., formerly known as Philips Lighting N.V., is a Dutch multinational lighting corporation formed in 2016 as a result of the spin-off of the lighting division of Philips, by means of an IPO. The company manufactures electric lights, li ...

, Polymer Latex,

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

Fujifilm , trading as , or simply Fuji, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the areas of photography, optics, Office supplies, office and Biomedical engine ...

, P&G,

Shimadzu is a Japanese public KK company, manufacturing precision instruments, measuring instruments and medical equipment, based in Kyoto, Japan. It was established in 1875. The American arm of the company, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, was founde ...

FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...

and

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

Recent Acquisitions

Global Footprint

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. Source
Annual Report, 2023/24 (p. 466-470)

Corporate Recognition

Hayleys PLC has a National Long-Term Rating of ‘AAA(lka)/Stable’ awarded by Fitch Ratings. However, the composition of the entire Group includes 12 other publicly-listed companies. The blue-chip recorded its highest profits in the twelve months ending 31 March 2022. The single largest investment in the 140-plus year history of Hayleys (and the largest acquisition of a public listed company at the time) was the 10.8 billion rupee controlling stake of Singer Sri Lanka in 2017, followed by the buying over of the five-star Ceylon Continental Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka (now known as The Kingsbury) in 2010. 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 2021, Hayleys PLC was ranked the No.1 company in the LMD's Top 100 listed companies of Sri Lanka (for the fifth consecutive time) and the Business Today Top 40.

Finances

Source: Annual Report, 2023/24 (p. 424)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Companies established in 1878 Companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange Companies in the S&P Sri Lanka 20 Index Conglomerate companies of Sri Lanka 1878 establishments in Ceylon Manufacturing companies based in Colombo