Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Electricity Board to borrow USD150mn from ADB with treasury guarantee

(LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Electricity Board is to borrow 150 million US dollars from ADB through a treasury guarantee for the implementation of the green power development and energy improvement investment project.

The programme is to broaden electricity transmission infrastructure, increase efficiency of the medium voltage network, implement demand based electricity management through a pilot sub project in smart grid and metering.

The total investment of this program is 440 million US dollars of which 300 million US dollars will be provided by ADB, with this being the second tranche.

Repayment period for the loan is 25 years including a 5 year grace period and the loan negotiations are currently scheduled to be held with the ADB Bank.

Sri Lanka raises cigarette tax

ECONOMYNEXT – The Sri Lankan government has decided to increase the tax on cigarettes by Rs7 each to raise revenue, finance minister Ravi Karunanayake said.

The government expect Rs 22 billion in revenue from cigarette taxes for the whole year, he told a news conference.

The government is also considering raising the tax on beedi, he added.
(COLOMBO, Oct 04, 2016)

Sri Lanka Treasuries yields unchanged

ECONOMYNEXT – Yields on Sri Lankan Treasury Bills remained unchanged at this week’s auction, according to data from the debt office.

The three-month bill yield remained at 8.55 percent, the 06-month yield at 9.39 percent and the 01-year bill yield at 10.11 percent.

The debt, a unit of the Central Bank, said it got bids worth Rs54.5 billion and accepted bids worth Rs18.8 billion.

Sri Lanka September tourist arrivals up 3.6-pct

ECONOMYNEXT – The growth in the number of tourists visiting Sri Lanka slowed to single digits in September after growing by double digits every month except in June this year with arrivals from China staying strong while Indian numbers were stagnant.

Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka were up 3.6% in September 2016 to 148,499 from a year ago, according to data from the tourism office.

Arrivals from India, the biggest market, were virtually unchanged at 27,241with the number of Indian visitors up 14% to 252,165 in the year to September from the same period in 2015.

Arrivals from China, the second biggest market, were up 7.8% to 22,111 in September 2016 from the year before, with total visitors for the first nine months up 29.2% to 213,103 from the same 2015 period.

Sri Lanka received just over 1.5 million tourists up to September 2016, up 14.6% from the same 2015 period.

Arrivals from the traditional markets of the United Kingdom and Germany remained strong, with those from the UK up 10% and from Germany almost 22% in September compared with a year ago.

Colombo Stock Exchange Market Review – 05th Oct 2016

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Colombo Stock Exchange Trade Summary 05-Oct-2016

Colombo bourse snapped the six day winning streak on Wednesday amid profit taking in selected counters. All Share index started the day with a gain of 16 points but failed to retain the momentum and closed the session at 6,579.78, down by 11.63 index points or 0.18%. High cap constituent, S&P SL20 index closed slight above the previous close with an increase of 1.64 index points or 0.05% at 3,643.58.

Ceylon Tobacco (closed at LKR 870.00, -0.9%) dragged the index down as the share price fell in reaction to the LKR 7.00 tax increase on cigarette imposed yesterday. Commercial Credit & Finance turned red today after gaining 36% in prior session and counter closed with a loss of 6.2% at LKR 68.30.

However, the gains in John Keells Holdings subsequent to the interim dividend announcement eased the pressure on the index. Company declared a dividend of LKR 2.00 per share which will XD on 13th October 2016. JKH share closed at LKR 156.00, +0.6%.

Daily market turnover was LKR 503mn. Negotiated deals were recorded in Browns Investments (20mn shares at LKR 1.40 per share) and C.W.Mackie (1mn shares at LKR 53.00) and the crossings represented 16% of the total turnover.

Sampath Bank emerged as the top contributor to the turnover with LKR 68mn followed by Commercial Credit & Finance (LKR 63mn), C.W.Mackie (LKR 54mn) and John Keells Holdings (LKR 51mn).

Market breadth was negative where 74 scripts slipped while 53 scripts advanced. High investor activity was witnessed in Commercial Credit & Finance for the second straight day. First Capital Holdings, John Keells Holdings and Marawila Resorts were among heavily traded counters.

Foreign investors were net sellers with a net foreign outflow of LKR 79mn. Foreign participation was 16%. Net foreign outflows were seen in Sampath Bank (LKR 61mn), John Keells Holdings (LKR 16mn), Hatton National Bank (LKR 12mn) while net foreign inflow was mainly seen in Chevron Lubricants (LKR 13mn).

Meanwhile, at the treasury bill auction today, yields across the board remained steady. Three month rate was 8.55%, six month rate was 9.39% while one year treasury rate was 10.11%. CBSL received bids amounting to LKR 54.5bn and it was decided to accept LKR 18.8bn worth of Treasury bills.

Source: LSL

Sri Lankan shares end lower on profit-taking

Reuters: Sri Lankan stocks ended down on Wednesday from their highest level in six weeks, hit in the previous session, led by profit-taking in Commercial Credit and Finance Plc, while the new tobacco tax weighed on Ceylon Tobacco Company shares.

The benchmark index of the Colombo Stock Exchange ended down by 0.18 percent at 6,571.78.

Commercial Credit and Finance Plc dipped 6.5 percent. The company's shares jumped 34.6 percent in the previous session after Thailand's Group Lease PCL bought a 30 percent stake in the firm.

Shares in Ceylon Tobacco Company fell 0.9 percent on concern over a 20 percent tobacco tax weighing on the company's profit.

Foreign investors sold a net 79 million rupees ($540,725.5) worth of shares on Wednesday, extending the net foreign outflow to 2.93 billion rupees worth of equities so far this year.

Turnover stood at 503.3 million rupees, less than this year's daily average of around 758 million rupees.

($1 = 146.1000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)