Sri Lanka's listed conglomerate Melstacorp PLC, the parent company of liquor producer the Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka (DCSL), has announced plans to enter the healthcare industry through a new subsidiary. Melstacorp PLC, owned by business tycoon Harry Jayawardena, did not disclose the initial investment for this purpose as it does “not amount to a major transaction as defined in section 185 of the companies Act No. 7 of 2007”, it said in a Colombo Stock Exchange filing today. The subsidiary, Melsta Health Private Limited, will initially manage hospitals, operate diagnostic centres and have “involvement in related health care institutions as and when the need arises”. Melstacorp is at 10^th position at the CSE in terms of market capitalisation, while the Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka sits at 6^th position. Melstacorp was trading at 50 rupees a share Tuesday. In addition to the Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka, Melstacorp has subsidiaries in varied sectors such as telecommunications, IT, plantations and travel. According to latest financial results, profits fell 30.8 per cent year on year to 789.3 million rupees in the June 2018 quarter, while revenue grew 102% to Rs 20.8 billion, cost of sales increased 75% to Rs 13.3 billion leading to a 178% increase in gross profits of Rs. 7.5 billion.