About us

Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC is a publicly held company listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, with business interests in a range of major industry segments.

The company has grown organically to become the solid yet diversified conglomerate it is today. Our portfolio now includes classic automobile brand names - Mercedes, Chrysler and Jeep and TATA while Bosch, MTU, Komatsu, Siemens, Michelin, Osram and Mahindra & Mahindra are each leaders in their respective segments and partnerships we have cherished for many years.

Over the past few decades we have entered several diverse industry sectors as part of our quest to build our company into an engine of value creation, serving thousands of stakeholders across the island. Today DIMO is truly a global yet local company, with a history of seventy-five eventful years, marked by many significant milestones, one of which was our recent award for Best Corporate Citizen 2013.

While a spirit of teamwork has contributed much to our success, we believe that our deeply embedded ‘tribal’ culture has powerfully engaged every member of our corporate family, reflecting in the vision of our leadership, the loyalty of our stakeholders and the passion of our people - the DIMO tribe.

Our aspiration

To be the corporate role model that inspires and touches the life of every Sri Lankan, every day.

Our purpose

To create value responsibly.

Our values

Responsible: To be a responsible corporate citizen.
To act with responsibility towards all our stakeholders and the environment.
Righteous: To stand for righteousness with resolve.
Responsive: To be approachable and responsive to every stakeholder we serve.
Reliable: To be reliable and trustworthy, whatever we undertake to do.
Respectful: To always treat people with dignity and respect.
Resilient: To be resilient in adversity.

Highlights of the Year 2013-14

A summary of our key performance indicators for the year under review

• G4 - 17
• G4 - 18
• G4 - 20
• G4 - 21
• G4 - 22
• G4 - 23

Welcome to our fourth integrated annual report

Here we describe the context and framework of our reporting.

This is the Company’s fourth integrated report. This report is organized around DIMO’s value creation model. The capitals that provide the inputs, and the value creating activities that result in outputs and outcomes are two key components of it. Good governance and risk management underpins the strategy driven value creation process.

DIMO’s value creation model aims to create value whilst balancing the Company’s responsibilities to its diverse stakeholders, including its shareholders, and the environment. How the company achieved this over the past financial year is discussed comprehensively through the different sections of this report.

The financial statements of the Company up to and as at 31st March 2014 were prepared in accordance with the Sri Lanka Accounting Standards which were in effect up to that date.

The Company is in compliance with the laws and regulations of the Companies Act No. 7 of 2007 and the subsequent amendments, and the Listing Rules of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). The 2013 version of the Code of Best Practice on Corporate Governance issued jointly by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) have been followed. Details of compliance with this code is provided in the corporate website www.dimolanka.com.

The Company is one of the 107 companies that participate in the pilot program for development of the international framework on Integrated Reporting by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). This framework has been applied to this, the Group’s fourth integrated report for 2013/14.

The report also contains the GRI G4 key performance indicators required by the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), released in May 2013. A soft copy of this annual report, the GRI content index and key information relating to sustainability are available on the Company website. This information relating to sustainability is prepared “In accordance” - comprehensive disclosures based on GRI G4 guidelines.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard has been used to measure and report on the company’s carbon footprint.

This report also acts as a Communication on Progress (COP) for the United Nations Global Compact.

The information content of the report covers the economic, social and environmental impacts resulting from the value creation activities of the Company and its subsidiaries operating across the island, and includes a reasonable assessment of potential impacts. This report also contains the objectives set by the Sustainability Committee, which are formulated based on material aspects identified. The test of materiality embedded in our processes has ensured that we report on all material issues relating to sustainability with regard to aspects internal and external to the organization within the sphere of influence of the Company. The DIMO stakeholder identification process ensures stakeholder inclusiveness. The Group Management Committee (GMC) has approved all the information and data relating to sustainability objectives that are contained in this report.

This Annual Report relates to the activities of Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC and its subsidiaries, collectively referred to as the DIMO Group, spanning a 12-month period ending 31st March 2014. There have been no changes in reporting scope and/or boundaries from the previous year. Non-financial information in this report pertaining to the previous year has not been restated, unless otherwise stated. The non-financial information contained in this report was audited by DNV Business Assurance Lanka (Pvt) Ltd according to the AA1000 Assurance Standard.

The Independent Auditor’s opinion on the Financial Statements is available in the Independent Auditor’s Report.

Grit to greatness

A historical overview of DIMO’s seventy five exciting years of success.

In 1939, four young men - Stephen Peries, Pandithage Don Alexander, Cyril Algama and Harold Algama launched their own workshop in rented premises off Prince of Wales Avenue, Panchikawatte. It was from this tiny company that the massive conglomerate of Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC or DIMO, originated.

Notwithstanding their youth, the four young men had big dreams. Their vision was not just local but global, with ambitions to deliver world-class products and services to every customer they served. This idea of excellence above all remains our core principle to this day, while management of the company has remained for the most part in the hands of the founding families.

DIMO’s original business was in making gaskets and turning out parts - a very lucrative enterprise due to the high demand for such items during the war years. As volumes expanded, the little business grew and diversified, moving into the sale of electrical parts and fittings for motor vehicles. In 1945 DIMO was incorporated as a private, limited liability company.

In 1949, DIMO went into partnership with Mr. F. K. Heller, a representative of a German company, Lohmann & Company. Mr Heller had launched Heller and Company in Sri Lanka in 1932, with the distributorship of several great German brands - Mercedes Benz, Bosch and Siemens. When World War 2 broke out, Heller & Company was acquired by the Government of British Ceylon. When the war ended Mr. Heller was released and subsequently became a prominent industrialist in Germany. His active partnership with the DIMO Group led to a significant expansion of the business. By 1952 a showroom, stores and workshop were all open for business.

Today we are the oldest sole distributor for Mercedes Benz passenger and commercial vehicles in the entire Asian region.

In 1964, DIMO became a publicly quoted company, listing with the Colombo Brokers’ Association. From that moment on, DIMO has grown on a trajectory that has been both steady and organic, diversifying into a score of related business enterprises while remaining true to our core expertise in automobile and heavy-vehicle sales and services. Our portfolio now includes classic automobile brand names - Mercedes, Chrysler, Jeep and TATA while Bosch, MTU, Komatsu, Siemens, Michelin, Osram and Mahindra & Mahindra. Mahindra are each leaders in their respective segments.

The Company now manages after sales and service activities for commercial vehicles, construction machinery and power systems from our state of the art workshop in Biyagama, while logistics are managed from Weliweriya in Gampaha. A regional and expanding network of showrooms and branches bring ease of access to customers from the remotest parts of the island.

To support our powerful brand portfolio, we also offer cutting edge technology and services through the Bosch Service Centre in Colombo - a professionally managed workshop where qualified personnel repair and service virtually any model of new generation vehicle.

In 2014 DIMO added another outstanding jewel to our crown of achievements when we formally declared open our state of the art Mercedes-Benz Sales & Aftercare Centre on Sirimavo Bandaranaike Mawatha, Colombo 14. This showroom and service centre is designed to showcase the Mercedes Benz Experience; a contemporary and sophisticated multi-purposed space reflecting the timeless elegance and classic style of the Mercedes Benz brand.

Developing local expertise has always been a priority for DIMO. In 1990 we launched our first automobile training school offering a two-year comprehensive auto-engineering course designed by Mercedes-Benz. Post-war, we opened a second automobile training school in Jaffna, to serve a region that has been denied access to quality technical training for over 30 years.

Today DIMO is truly a global yet local company, one that has always reflected the enduring spirit of Sri Lanka through the many challenges we have overcome on our seventy-five year journey to this moment of success. We know that our deeply embedded ‘tribal’ culture has played its part in all that we have achieved. It remains the source of our shared beliefs and common experience where knowledge is pooled and ongoing learning is inclusive, evolutionary and continuous. Today we are justifiably proud of our carefully honed business model that guarantees thousands of stakeholders the promise of rising value, through the excellence of our products and processes and the passion of our people - the DIMO tribe.