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Assetline Leasing Makes Giant Leaps Forward

Today’s business environment is complex, competitive and ever changing. To compete with 51 other lending and leasing institutions in the country and still emerge resilient and robust requires tantamount of innovation, discipline and forward-thinking.

Assetline Leasing, a fairly young company that started operations in 2003, has a bottom-line that leaves many scuttling to learn their secrets to success. Derector / Chief Executive Officer of Assetline Leasing Ananda Seneviratne says that their success is underpinned by impeccable service they deliver, while their drivers of growth has been diversification and exploring opportunities at times and in places where others saw none. An anecdotal story is that of a boom in the scooter market in the North and East. “At a time when the government was placing tighter regulatory measures on the three-wheel industry and the sale of three-wheels hit a stump, we found success in sales of scooters in the North and East, and later down South,” he said. Assetline Leasing currently has 49 strategically placed branches and has set its sight on three more, which will be opened early next year. All branches are manned by trained, professional and customer-oriented individuals.

Today, Assetline Leasing has carved for itself a niche in the Sri Lankan leasing marketplace as one of the largest specialized leasing companies. The company provides a wide variety of innovative products to a diverse customer base located across all the main regions of the island. These products include loans such as business loans, revolving loans and micro loans, as well as services like leasing of equipment, three-wheelers, motorcycles, motor cars, mini trucks and used three-wheelers, in addition to hire purchase. The flexible, customer-oriented approach of the company has resulted in both private and public sector employees turning to Assetline Leasing for their financial needs. The company’s growing customer base also includes self-employed individuals, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and the agriculture sector.

“As a leasing and lending company, our success lies in strategically managing leasing and loans. Although 80 percent of our earning is derived from leasing, lending is a sector that the company has branched into as of late,” he said. The response has been immensely optimistic, so much that the organization believes it’s where the future of this company lies. The three-wheel industry in Sri Lanka continues to remain in a flux. The leasing sector is visibly shrinking, as expectations are at an all-time low and imports are down. While the forecast may be undesirable, Assetline Leasing’s strategy hasn’t changed.

Their success, according to Seneviratne, doesn’t depend on market share but the level of service they offer their loyal customers.

“We are now dealing with a different kind of consumer,” he said. “With the government’s new regulatory measures, we’ve found that we were dealing with a different kind of customer, one who could afford to pay bigger down-payments and lesser finances. This has drastically reduced our risks.”

Seneviratne, who also chairs the Sri Lanka Leasing Association, said that their focus presently was to increase ethical practices in the market. “When you have over 40 such institutions fighting for a single piece of cake, it’s easy for the companies and its people to cut corners to stay ahead in the game,” he said. The Association recently held a get-together for members of the leasing organizations in the country. “Our get-together helped bring together people who would otherwise be fiercely competitive in a gesture of camaraderie.”

The Association, which also has the mandate to appoint valuers, mentioned that the next step would be to enforce stricter regulations and take disciplinary action when needed. Seneviratne is also hopeful of taking Assetline Leasing to greater heights by seeking the possibility to expand its operations overseas.