Company looking to further expand its industrial engineering services in foreign markets

by Sanath Nanayakkare

Synex Group of Companies which marks its 25th anniversary today has not only consolidated its position in Sri Lanka’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing services market (MEP), but also has gained a strong foothold in a number of foreign countries from where they get 60% of their total annual revenue amounted to USD 17 million.

R.P.P Senarathna, Managing Director, Synex Group of Companies whose engineering background gave birth to Synex Group, speaking to the media said,” Synex was founded in 1999 to fill in a gap in the market. We undertook a project for Star Garments Group at the Katunayake Export Processing Zone. Since then, Synex has been a dominant leader in industrial engineering. Synex has been the sole contractor for Star Garments group since 1999. Furthermore, we have enjoyed a strong business relationship with Hirdaramani Group which is another giant in Sri Lanka’s apparel industry. Client retention is one of our key strengths, ” he noted.

Senira Senarathne who has taken on the mantle of CEO at Synex to drive the company toward its strategic goals said, “We have a branding position when it comes to apparel industry whether it is in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Jordan or any other country. We are specialized in ‘a niche’ in MEP services, and we can replicate that in any part of the world.Through our sustainable corporate ecosystem, we are capable of delivering low to high profile electrical and low voltage solutions to various market segments across the country and overseas, ensuring project deliverables meet the clients’ demands, needs and timelines.”

Further speaking Senira said,” We have our presence in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Vietnam, Kenya and Ethiopia. Synex team has completed more than 380 major projects in Sri Lanka and overseas conforming to quality MEP engineering standards.”

“Star Garments and Hirdaramani awarded us 100% of their electrical installation and industrial engineering contracts. We are immensely thankful to Janak Hirdaramani and Mahesh for supporting us to take our services abroad in the first place by awarding us the contract in their factory in Bangladesh. Since then we have done more than 14 projects for them in Bangladesh and more than 200 projects in Bangladesh for other clients.”

“As you know, we are mainly into mechanical and electrical work. In Ethiopia, we did six apparel factories. In Bangladesh where we have two offices, we provided services to ABA Group – they were the one of the largest and the first apparel manufacturers in Bangladesh. It was a LEED platinum factory in Bangladesh. In Sri Lanka, the first LEED platinum factory by Brandix was done by us and another one in Vietnam was done for Fashion Garments, a member of Hirdaramani Group. In Sri Lanka, we have about 60%-70% of the market share in providing MEP services for garment factories including renovations.”

“We entered Kenya in 2015, Ethiopia in 2016 and Ghana in 2019. Apart from the apparel sector, we have done a lot of hotels and commercial buildings in the Maldives. We have also handled heavy industries like cement manufacturing and steel manufacturing. We have moved on to pharmaceuticals, food and beverage and cold storage.”

“We have done two telecom data centres in the Maldives. One project is already completed and the largest data centre’s work is ongoing which will be completed in the middle of this year.”

“In Ethiopia, we did six apparel factories. In Bangladesh, we provided our services to ABA Group – one of the largest and the first apparel manufacturers in Bangladesh. It was a LEED platinum factory in Bangladesh. In Sri Lanka, the first LEED platinum factory by Brandix was done by us and another one in Vietnam was done for Fashion Garments of Hirdaramani Group. We have about 60%-70% of the market share in providing industrial engineering for local apparel sector.”

Responding to a query on revenue streams, Senira said,” We have been having foreign revenue since 2002. Our revenue reached 40% local and 60% foreign by 2015 and it continues to be so. Our total turnover is about USD 17 million per annum. In Sri Lanka, we faced a major dip in the last two years. This year, the industrial sector shows some promise as suspended projects appear to be kicking off. However, we are not too keen on competing in the local market, Instead we focus on taking our services out to bigger markets overseas which have been the key driver in our success story thus far.”