Colombo Stock Exchange Market Review – 30th Nov 2016

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Colombo Stock Exchange Trade Summary 30-Nov-2016

Colombo Bourse witnessed a slightly positive tone today and the indices closed in the green territory after three consecutive days of losses. ASI closed 9.23 index points (+0.2%) ahead at 6,241.10 while the blue-chip S&P SL 20 index inclined 10.20 index points (+0.3%) to 3,467.10.

Among the blue-chips, John Keells Holdings (LKR 148.30,+2.6%), Dialog Axiata (LKR 10.40,+3.0%), Lion Brewery (LKR 469.30, +4.1%) led the gainers while Ceylon Cold Stores (LKR 772.10,-3.9%) and LOLC (LKR 73.30, -7.6%) were among the losers. Market breadth remained equally divided with gainers modestly ahead of losers at 71 to 69.

Market turnover reached LKR 580mn supported by the activities in John Keells Holdings (LKR 117mn), Chevron Lubricants (LKR 97mn) and Ceylon Tobacco (LKR 85mn). The crossings in Chevron Lubricants (0.4mn shares at LKR 158.50) and CT Holdings (0.2mn at LKR 120.00) contributed 14% of the turnover.

Commercial Credit (LKR 59.90, +4.9%), John Keells Holdings and Access Engineering (LKR 24.30, +0.8%) were among the actively traded counters in todays’ session.

Foreign investors were net buyers with net foreign inflow of LKR 48mn. Foreign participation was 45%. Top net inflows were seen in Ceylon Tobacco (LKR 72mn), John Keells Holdings (LKR 24mn) and Tokyo Cement – nonvoting (LKR 12mn) while top net outflow was seen in Chevron Lubricants (LKR 50mn).

At today’s Treasury bill auction, yields declined in 6-months (9.55%, -16bps) and 12-months durations (10.1%, -15bps) while yield of 3-months bill remained unchanged. The auction received LKR 71bn worth of bids but CBSL accepted only LKR 16bn.

Source: LSL

Sri Lanka shares edge up; tax proposals weigh

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares ended slightly higher on Wednesday as investors sought bargains in blue-chips but concerns over recent budget tax proposals weighed on sentiment.

The Colombo stock index ended up 0.15 percent at 6,241.10, ending three sessions of losses.

The index hit a near-eight-month low on Tuesday on concerns that the proposed hike in various taxes and fees would reduce disposable income and challenge consumption-led growth, analysts said.

"Market is up on bargain-hunting by foreigners but it's not a major factor at the moment unless the trend is going to continue," said Dimantha Mathew, head of research at First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd.

"I feel its like a one-off thing. Investors are concerned over the current uncertainty and we could see volatility in the market with the current economic uncertainty."

The government aims to boost its 2017 tax revenue by 27 percent to 1.82 trillion rupees year-on-year and meet a commitment given to the International Monetary Fund in return for a $1.5 billion loan in May.

The market shrugged off the central bank's key monetary policy decision on Tuesday to keep rates unchanged. Brokers said investors are concerned about sustainability of rates.

Turnover stood at 579.6 million rupees ($3.89 million), much less than this year's daily average of 694.6 million rupees.

Foreign investors bought a net 48.1 million rupees worth of shares on Wednesday, but have been net sellers of 1.64 billion rupees worth of shares so far this year.

Shares of conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc jumped 2.63 percent while Dialog Axiata Plc rose 2.97 percent and Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc rose 0.47 percent.

($1 = 148.9000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Sunil Nair)

‘NSB continues its healthy growth momentum with a PBT of Rs. 10.1 bn for 9 months ending September 30, 2016’

NSB recorded a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 10.2 billion for 9 months ended 30th September 2016, a 12% increase as compared with the same period last year. Growth in traditional lines of business, enhanced Fee based income coupled with lower impairment provisioning due to a significant improvement in asset quality been the contributory factors leading to this growth.

The Bank reported an Operating Profit of Rs. 12.3 billion for the nine months period recording a growth of 13% when compared to Rs. 10.9 billion Operating Profit reported for the correspondence period last year. The Profit after Tax (PAT) was reported at Rs. 7.4 billion for the nine months ended 30th September which is a notable growth of 32% compared to Rs. 5.6 billion PAT recorded during the same period last year. These profits were recorded despite lower Net Interest margins due to a rising market interest rate scenario.

Interest income of the Bank grew by 8% to reach Rs. 62.9 billion while interest expenses recorded an increase of 15% mainly due to upward repricing of its term deposit portfolio on account of interest rate pressures.

The Bank’s Loans and Advances portfolio grew satisfactorily helped by a growth in Retail Loans of 17% as compared to the previous year. Another key highlight been the significant decline of gross Non Performing Loans (NPL) ratio to 1.8% as at 30th September, 2016 from 3.5% at the start of year 2016.

The Bank has already contributed Rs.14.4 billion to the Government in the form of Taxes and Levies for the year 2016. A significantly higher amount as compared with last year.

The total assets of the Bank stood at Rs. 886 billion by end of 30th September indicating a growth of 5%. During the period under review, total deposit base of the Bank grew by 7% to reach Rs. 638 billion.

The Bank’s Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.6% while total capital adequacy was 10.6% as at 30th September, 2016. Those ratios were 17.9% & 16.4% as at 31st December 2015.

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