State Trading Organization
The State Trading Organization Plc (MSE:STO ) or STO is a public company with 81.63% of the shares owned by the Maldivian Government with the rest 18.37% being held by the public after the IPO a couple of years ago. The company is controlled by a board of directors headed by a Chairman.
 STO Building | |
| Public | |
| Industry | Consumer Electronics, Home Appliances, Medicals, Supermarket Products, and range of other high quality products |
| Predecessor | Athireegemaafannu Trading Agency (ATA) |
| Founded | Malé, Maldives (1964) |
| Headquarters | Kambaa Aisha Rani Hingun Malé, Maldives |
Key people | Husen Amru Mohamed Rashad (Managing Director) |
| Products | Consumer Electronics, Home Appliances, Medicals, Supermarket Products and other retail products |
| Revenue |  |
Number of employees | 2,017[1] |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Website | sto.mv |
Outlets
STO People's Choice Electronics - Established in 1993, STO Electronics deals with branded consumer electronics including home theater systems, digital photography and video equipment, stereo and hi-fi systems and microsystems.
STO Home Improvement - Established in May 1995, deals with home appliances, paints, power tools, furniture and cooling systems.
STO People's Choice Supermart - Established in 1991, Supermart is reputed to be the largest supermarket in the country. It also introduced supermarkets to the nation which provided an inexpensive mode of shopping to the public. Deals with merchandise ranging from toiletries, stationeries, canned and frozen foods, household items and consumer goods.
STO Staple Foods - Since the establishment of STO in the mid 60s, it has been selling staple foods.
STO Construction - Established in 1988, deals with construction materials such as cement, river sand, deformed bars, plywood, timber, and roofing materials. It also functions as the main distributor of locally packed international standard cement and roofing sheets with the aide of its subsidiaries Maldives Marine Cement and Maldives Structural Products.
STO Fuel and Lubricants - Operated from Funadhoo island and Dhoonidhoo island (Malé Atoll) deals with the supply and sale of a wide variety of petroleum products. In January 2001, Fuel and Lubricants diversified as a joint venture between Fuel Supplies Maldives Pvt. Ltd. (FSM) Plc. and Vara Maldives. Pvt. Ltd. to further extend their distribution network to the entire Maldives.
Services
STO specializes in both retail and wholesale businesses involving selling goods directly to end customers for personal use and providing quality products to wholesale customers at competitive prices.
The company has its branches in the following islands (locations) nationwide:
- Eydhafushi (STO 132 No. Fihaara)
- Fonadhoo (STO 134 No. Fihaara)
- Fuvammulah (STO 136 No. Fihaara)
- Gan (STO 141 No. Theyo Fihaara)
- Hithadhoo (STO 137 No Fihaara)
- Hoarafushi (STO 122 No. Fihaara)
- Maradhoo-Feydhoo (STO 159 No. Fihaara)
- Thinadhoo (STO 138 No. Fihaara)
- Hulhumeedhoo (STO 164 No. Fihaara)
- Kulhudhuffushi (STO 165 No. Fihaara)
STO established its credit scheme service in 1995 with the purpose of enabling all government employees to purchase goods from STO on installment basis.
Subsidiaries
Allied Insurance Company Maldives Pvt Ltd - Allied Insurance Company of the Maldives was established in 1985 as a joint venture company between State Trading Organization and Commercial Union Assurance Company of the United Kingdom. In its early years, the State Trading Organization bought back the shares and the company continued operations with local ownership and management. Allied has had tremendous growth over the past 20 years, both in terms of the volume of business and profitability.
Fuel Supplies Maldives Pvt Ltd (FSM) - Fuel Supplies Maldives Pvt Ltd was established on January 1, 2001. FSM was founded as part of the scheme of STO to choose private companies to form partnerships in specialized lines of services.
Maldive Gas Pvt Ltd - Maldive Gas, natural gas distribution market, delivering cooking gas to over 40,000 customers throughout the Maldives.
Maldives Structural Products Pvt. Ltd (MSP) - Maldives Structural Products Pvt. Ltd (MSP) is a joint venture company of State Trading Organization PLC & Rainbow Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., formed with the main objective of producing steel roofing products and related accessories and supply to the Maldives market.
Maldives National Oil Company Ltd. (MNOC) - The Maldives National Oil Company Ltd. (MNOC) was incorporated by the Government of the Republic of Maldives to complement the Government's effort to diversify the national economy and thereby generate employment and foreign income through oil and gas exploration and production in the territory of the Maldives and abroad.
Lafarge Maldives Cement Pvt Ltd - With the rapid development of the tourism industry in the Maldives, the government of the republic of Maldives embarked on its long term development of harbours, airports, housing and other infrastructure. The tourism industry continued to grow and many large resort projects with joint venture partnerships got off ground. All these development projects required large amounts of cement, resulting in an increased price of cement in the Maldives. This led to the introduction of Marine Cement Limited ( a Swiss-based cement trading / shipping outfit owned by Lafarge of France and Blue Circle of United Kingdom), as a share holder to form a joint venture with the State Trading Organization Plc., registered under the Ministry of Trade and industries in the Maldives, in establishing Maldives Island Marine Cement Pvt. Ltd. From January 2002 with the takeover of Blue Circle by Lafarge of France.
Maldives Industrial Fisheries Co. Ltd. (MIFCO) - The Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) was incorporated under the umbrella of the STO group during this year. The company is engaged in the processing and exportation of tuna, tuna products, reef fish and other fishery products. MIFCO's products are in increasing demand by discerning customers, especially in Europe due to its high quality.
The main activities of the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) are centered around the purchase, process and value addition of tuna and the subsequent sale and exportation of tuna, tuna products, reef fish and other fishery products. MIFCO's products are in increasing demand by discerning customers, especially in Europe due to its high quality as a result of exclusive pole-and-line skipjack fishery of the country complemented with the pristine waters of the Maldives.
See also
References
- "STO Annual Report 2013" (PDF).