CHC mandatory offer for Taprobane Holdings

(LBO) – Sri Lanka’s CHC Investment will be making a mandatory offer to shareholders of financial services firm Taprobane Holdings after it bought a 30.99 percent stake at 5.50 rupees, CHC said in a statement to the Colombo Stock Exchange.

The mandatory offer will be at 5.50 rupees per share. A detailed offer will follow shortly, the company said.

On Monday, Taprobane Securities said CHC Investment bought a 31 percent stake of 310.8 million shares of Taprobane Holdings worth 1,709.4 million rupees.

I C Nanyakkara sold 225.9 million shares and P S W Rupasinghe sold 84.9 million shares to CHC Investments in this sale.

Sri Lanka’s Treasury bill yields up across maturities; 12 month yield up 25bps

(LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasury bill yields were up across maturities at Wednesday’s auction with 12-month yield up 25 basis points to close at 6.97 percent, data from the state debt office showed.

3-month yields were up 17 basis points to close at 6.53 percent while 6-month Treasury bill yields were up 21 basis points to close at 6.87 percent.

The auction was oversubscribed with bids amounting to 38.5 billion rupees being received and it was decided to accept 17.3 billion rupees from the auction.

Treasury bills of 18.0 billion rupees were scheduled to be issued through the auction held today.

Sri Lanka IOC unit to enter Malaysia, Indonesia lubricant markets

ECONOMYNEXT – The Sri Lankan unit of Indian Oil Corporation plans to expand export markets and has said it will enter the Malaysian and Indonesian lubricant markets.

“Our growth plans have not been limited to the domestic market,” Lanka Indian Oil Corp. Managing Director Subodh Dakwale said.

LIOC has done a study on entering export markets with its premium lubricants and is currently testing the markets of Indonesia and Malaysia with the appointment of a small number of distributors for Lanka IOC lubricants.

“Plans for exporting lubricants will be unrolled during the year to test the markets of Indonesia and Malaysia,” Dakwale told shareholders in the company’s annual report.

“Although I do not anticipate significant revenue contributions from market development initiatives over the short term, I believe export markets will open up new revenue opportunities over the longer term.”

Sri Lanka shares recover from near 5-week closing low

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares edged up on Wednesday, rebounding from near five-week closing low hit in the previous session as investors bought in some select shares after two days of losses, but further gains were capped due to foreign selling in some stocks.

The main stock index was up 0.12 percent, or 8.52 points, at 7,240.10 on Wednesday, edging up from its lowest close since July 23 hit on Tuesday.

The main stock index lost 3.2 percent in the two sessions through Tuesday as foreign investors sold off risky assets on fears of a China - led global economic slowdown, and on selling by retail investors for month-end settlements.

Foreign investors were net sellers of 1.21 billion rupees worth of shares on Wednesday, extending the year to date net foreign outflow to 2.75 billion rupees.

Shares in John Keells Holdings Plc, which saw net foreign outflow of 6 million shares on Wednesday ended down 2.72 percent.

Turnover stood at 2.37 billion rupees, twice of this year's daily average of 1.16 billion rupees.

"The market is recovering with some selected buying," said Dimantha Mathew, a research manager at First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd.

"There was heavy foreign selling in Keells," Mathew added.

Shares in Dialog Axiata Plc rose 0.90 percent, while Sunshine Holdings Plc jumped 9 percent, helping the index to remain up. 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Anand Basu)

Lanka IOC to invest Rs 400m on more outlets

Lanka IOC is planning on investing Rs. 400 million to add another 20 fuel stations to the current network, while also completing refurbishments of the existing fuel outlets, Lanka IOC Managing Director Subodh Dakwale said.

The company has also plans to export lubricants to test the markets of Indonesia and Malaysia.

The company’s market share of the lubricants sector will also be expanded through promotional campaigns by utilising the growing fuel station network as retail points. In this regard, extensive market surveys have already been conducted and revamped Lanka IOC lubricants will be launched in the new financial year(2015/2016). “Although I do not anticipate significant revenue contributions from market development initiatives over the short term, I believe export markets will open up new revenue opportunities over the longer term,”Dakwale said.

Lanka IOC bunkering operations are currently facing severe price competition from Indian ports that are able to offer lower prices due to domestic production of fuels, while Lanka IOC has to accommodate the additional costs related to fuel imports. However, he is hopeful that company’s technical expertise and extensive range of services will continue to provide a competitive advantage to ensure sustained revenue growth in the new financial year. (IH)
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Sathosa Motors turns down dividend increase at AGM

The Board of Sathosa Motors has turned down several demands made by shareholders to increase their dividend yesterday.

The company held its annual general meeting at the Institute of Chartered Accountants auditorium.

It was decided to pay a dividend of Rs 7 per share.Several shareholders at this AGM however requested that this amount be increased to an amount between Rs 10 to Rs. 22.50 per share.

This request was made since Sathosa Motors is one of the few companies that paid the lowest dividend per share. It was also pointed out that other companies such as United Motors allocated 49 percent, DIMO allocated 30 percent of the profit as dividend for their shareholders.

Sathosa Motors Chairman Sumal Perera pointed out that this dividend amount cannot be increased immediately as the company earnings too had to be increased. "My target is to give a 50% dividend out of the nett profit to the shareholders when the company gets into a comfortable financial standing."

The company recorded a nett profit of Rs 270 million for the last financial year. Several share holders also queried from Perera if construction work of Sathosa Motors is being awarded to Access International owned by Sumal Perera without proper procedure. Perera answered in the negative. (HDH)
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First Capital Holdings maintains momentum in Q2

First Capital Holdings PLC recorded a consolidated profit after tax of Rs. 176 million for the quarter ended June 30,2015.

Consequent to the policy rate reductions in April 2015 the company's structuring and placement arm First Capital Limited, which specialises in mobilised listed debentures, asset backed securitisations and commercial papers, successfully generated a fee income of Rs. 27 m during the period under review (2014/15 - Rs. 13m).

While the group's primary dealer First Capital Treasuries Limited realised a trading gain of Rs. 77 m for the quarter,capitalising on prevailing market conditions.

"While we are pleased with our performance to date, we seek to transform the prevailing macro-economic factors to our favour. The Group will continue to build on the current growth momentum across all its subsidiary businesses while expanding on corporate advisory and broader investment banking services," CEO Dilshan Wirasekara said.

Meanwhile during the first half of the financial year 2015/16, the group's Wealth Management and Unit Trust, First Capital Asset Management Limited, reflected a growth of Rs. 2.9 b, increasing the division's total assets under management to Rs. 7.1b With a return of 13.13% for the year ended June 30,2015, First Capital Wealth Fund continuing its steady performance.

Consistent with the mixed performance of the Colombo Stock Market, as foreign participants exited the market due to political uncertainty the Stockbroking division First Capital Equities (Private) Limited saw lower trading volumes resulting in lower broking income.

The company divested its 25% stake in Orient Finance PLC resulting in a capital gain of Rs. 27.5 m for the quarter. The investment realized a total gain of Rs 260.8 m, including gains recorded in the previous financial year amounting to Rs. 233.3 m.
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