Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) announced the appointment of Fariyha Subhani as Chief Executive Officer, effective April 15, 2024. Subhani takes over the reins as Managing Director from Monisha Abraham, who was appointed to the position in December 2021. Prior to joining CTC, Fariyha served as Managing Director for Upfield (Private) Limited, South & Central Asia.

She also spent 28 years with Unilever PLC where she held various senior leadership roles, across geographies and a number of diverse FMCG categories. In 2002, she moved on an international assignment to Thailand with Unilever, where she was responsible for Global and Regional brands across Homecare. She successfully led the business for over three years and then returned to Unilever Pakistan in 2006 to head the Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd. (UPFL) business and became CEO of UPFL board in 2009.

As Managing Director for South and Central Asia, she established a new business with Upfield (Private) Limited across Pakistan and Sri Lanka. She was instrumental in setting up a world class team, sustainable business practices, systems and operations to lead the expansion of retail and food service business delivering profitable growth over the five-year period.