LTL Holdings Ltd. has issued a strong clarification following recent proceedings before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), asserting that the company has maintained full compliance with national audit and corporate governance standards for over four decades. The clarification comes amid intense public and parliamentary scrutiny over the relationship between the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and its partly owned subsidiary, LTL Holdings.
In a statement, LTL Holdings said it was invited to the COPE session on 24 October 2025 “for the purpose of questioning in respect of the examination of the CEB,” and that the invitation did not specify any areas of inquiry. However, the company said it was surprised when the session focused solely on LTL’s internal operations rather than its interactions with the CEB.
Responding to COPE’s remarks about auditing practices, LTL Holdings maintained that it is not subject to direct audit by the Auditor General under the National Audit Act or the Constitution, as it is not classified as an “auditee entity.”
The company emphasized that all its subsidiaries are independently audited twice a year by shareholder-appointed auditors including the CEB and that those results are consolidated into the CEB’s own financial statements. “The Auditor General has every right to inquire about LTL’s audited financials through the CEB, and we have always cooperated fully,” the statement said.
On the controversial Employee Trust issue, LTL explained that the 10 % Employee Trust was created by mutual agreement between its two original shareholders the CEB and ABB of Norway and not by employees themselves. The Trust was later converted into Teckpro Investments Ltd. to resolve a regulatory issue related to LTL’s foreign operations. “No CEB employee was ever allocated shares or received dividends,” the company stressed.
LTL also addressed allegations regarding changes in shareholding and the CEB’s reduced stake. The company said that the CEB’s transfer of part of its LTL Holdings shares to West Coast Power Ltd. was part of a government-mandated debt restructuring initiative, and that LTL merely carried out CEB’s instructions to register the new shareholder.
The CEB’s stake was thus reduced from 63 % to 35 %, while West Coast Power remains a state-controlled entity. “All shareholder composition changes occurred due to external circumstances, never through actions initiated by LTL,” it noted.
Addressing concerns over potential conflicts of interest, LTL clarified that its current CEO resigned from the CEB in 1997 before joining LTL Holdings, and only later subscribed to one share in its subsidiary Lakdhanavi Ltd. in 2000 well after his transition from public service. “There was no conflict of interest at any time,” the company stated.
LTL further emphasized that all power-generation projects undertaken by its subsidiary Lakdhanavi have been awarded through competitive bidding under the CEB’s 20-year Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan (LTGEP), approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) following public consultation.
“We have never obtained a project outside the LTGEP framework,” the statement concluded, reaffirming that LTL’s operations are fully aligned with national energy planning and regulatory oversight.
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