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CSE Highs and Lows 

30 Jan 2022

By Imesh Ranasinghe   The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) started the week off with the new index calculation method while the All Share Price Index (ASPI) gained slightly by 12.5 points to 13,384 last Monday (24). “Colombo Bourse witnessed a surge in turnover following the off-board deal on John Keells executed by foreign investors. Worries over the increasing Covid situation and power crisis, amidst the declining trend in global markets and the introduction of new index calculation methodology for ASPI, triggered panic selling during the early trade but recovered later from the fresh buying interest on value stocks,” Asha securities said.  The highest contributors for the ASPI were Expolanka with 20.6 points and Hayleys with 10 points, while the daily turnover stood at Rs. 18.42 billion – up by 272% from the previously recorded Rs. 4.95 billion last Friday (21). Last Monday, LOLC Finance PLC (LOFC) announced that the Department of Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions of the Central Bank had last Friday granted approval for the amalgamation of LOFC with Commercial Leasing and Finance PLC (CLC), where the remaining entity would be LOFC. Further, it was announced that Finco Holding Pvt. Ltd. had purchased 104,673 ordinary shares of Serendib Land PLC (SLND) for Rs. 1,200 each (26.2% stake). The project to launch a Central Counterparty (CCP) system for equities was formally launched at a Joint Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) CSE meeting held at the SEC last Monday. Last Tuesday (25), ASPI gained by 173.94 points to 13,210.17 by the end of the day as pre-earning profits triggered a sell-off in the latter part of the day. The turnover for the day was at Rs. 6.1 billion, down by 70% from last Monday, while Expolanka recorded the highest turnover of Rs. 1.2 billion and Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) PLC had the highest volume of shares traded with 25 million share trades. It was announced that the trading suspension of the securities of Anilana Hotels and Properties PLC (ALHP) had been lifted with effect from 25 January 2022 as per the CSE Listing Rules. Further, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLTL) completed the transaction to divest 100% of the shares of its fully owned subsidiary SLT Campus (Pvt.) Ltd. to the Tempest Two (Pvt.) Ltd. investor consortium, for a total consideration of Rs. 410 million on last Tuesday. Last Wednesday (26), ASPI fell by 144.4 points as it settled at 13,065 by the end of the day. LOLC and Expolanka were the net losers as they lost 17 and 10 points in the ASPI. “Colombo Bourse continued to witness month end profit taking and panic selling due to worries over the economic conditions and rising interest rates. Strong buying interest noted on value stocks,” Asha Securities said. The turnover was further down by 12% to Rs. 5.3 billion while foreign investors remained net sellers of the day. Foreign sales amounted to Rs. 130.73 million while purchases stood at Rs. 63.29 million. Hela Apparel Holdings IPO was oversubscribed by 5.4 times last Wednesday as the IPO, which sought to raise Rs. 4 billion through the issue of new shares, received applications amounting to Rs. 21.8 billion. A total of 23,205 applications were received from investors, a record number for any IPO in the past 10 years. Further, through CSE corporate disclosure LOLC announced last Wednesday that its fully owned subsidiary, LOLC Investment Holdings Two (Pvt.) Ltd., had secured a land block located in Cotta Road, Rajagiriya on a 99-year long-term lease. This land block containing one acre one rood and 9.29 acres in extent, was obtained by LOLC Investment Holdings Two (Pvt.) Ltd. on a 99-year long-term lease for a consideration of Rs. 1.1 billion for a mixed development project involving a total investment of Rs. 13 billion.


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