Against a backdrop of a highly uncertain market conditions, Brand Finance Lanka has published its annual leading brand list for the fifth consecutive year, with some dramatic shifts in the line up of the most valuable brands in the country.

Ruchi Gunewardene, Managing Director of Brand Finance Lanka said " the future of business is uncertain because of the dramatic decline in the underlying value of tangible and intangible assets. While the focus of the crisis globally & locally has thus far been on financial & tangible assets, it logically must lead to a decline in intangible assets too, as consumers lose faith in brands, retrenchment demoralises human resources, declining volumes lead to conflict in supply chain management, and intellectual capital looks for greener pastures".

Brands are built on the foundation of confidence, and in this context, the 2009 brand value line up is significantly different to previous years. The list which has just been released finds two Government institutions heading the brand valuation table with BOC and Peoples Bank in the No 1 and No 2 spots having displaced Dialog to No 3. Yet another state bank, NSB is within the top 10 at number 8.

Explaining the rationale for this significant change, Gunewardene said "in recent years BOC, Peoples Bank and NSB, have shed their government bureaucracy and sharpened their business orientation through managing costs, more prudent lending policies and acquiring skills in brand management and marketing, thus leveraging their extensive reach and building brand equity to accelerate the growth of these huge enterprises, creating immense value in the process. They are now seeing the rewards of those efforts which were put into place several years ago".

Gunewardene further said "in the context of market and financial uncertainties, Government backed enterprises provide security to customers. It is ironic that the most developed markets have come full circle, through the forced nationalization of banks to prop up those failing enterprises. It is now evident that having a balanced regulatory framework is absolutely essential for creating the right business platform. The absence of that regulatory framework and its repercussions can be seen in the crisis of confidence currently being faced by Sri Lankan finance companies".

In the Brand Rating table, which asses the strength of the brand, Singer is the strongest brand in the country for the fifth consecutive year with an AA+ rating, followed by Cargills Food City, also with an AA+ rating. "Whilst the resilience of Singer to hang on to the top spot of our rating table can be admired, there is pressure on them to step up their performance to continue to be there in the future, in the light of these dramatically changing market conditions and consumer expectations" said Gunewardene.

Brand Finance has expanded their listing this year, with the inclusion of private brands or those that are not listed on the stock exchange. This table sets out the strongest unlisted brands which is headed by Panadol with Sunlight in second position. This list is dominated by multinationals, indicative of the gap that Sri Lankan brands have to bridge.