Chevron Lubricants Lanka (LLUB) in Decline as CEO Kishu Gomes Exits

June 12, 2018 (LBO) - On May 22, 2018 Kishu Gomes resigned as Managing Director/CEO and as a Director of Chevron Lubricants Lanka with 'immediate effect' as per stock exchange disclosure. He was immediately replaced by the company's Chairman Rochna Kaul, who has served as General Manager Chevron Lubricants in Pakistan. The abrupt resignation came after a 22 year career at the multinational firm.

After the resignation Gomes was quoted in several newspapers stating that the resignation was in order to take a break from corporate life, and that he hopes to play a future role nurturing young talent in the country. In the months prior to the surprise resignation, Chevron Lubricants has been on the decline with a 27% decline in profits and a 9% decline in revenue for the year ended December 2017.

The decline has continued in the March 2018 quarter with revenue down 4% and profits down 15% year over year.

The struggling multinational which once had a market capitalisation over Rs50bn has now seen its market cap decrease to below Rs19bn. The Colombo Stock Exchange listed company (LLUB) has historically been a favourite of foreign institutional investors. However, with its market capitalisation dipping close to US$100mn, the market cap of the company may be approaching levels where foreign funds will find the stock unattractive from a liquidity perspective.