Sri Lankan shares steady; led by large-cap consumer stocks

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares ended little changed on Thursday as gains helped by foreign buying and led by financials were offset by some large-cap consumer staples, while the market awaited directions on the macro economy.

The benchmark Colombo stock index ended up 0.05 percent, or 2.97 points, at 6,417.46 in thin trade.

"Things were a bit slow. But investors were looking at more blue chip counters rather than retail stocks," said Dimantha Mathew, head of research, First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd.

Analysts said investors are waiting for a direction on the country's economic policies, which is expected to be announced by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe next month.

The index touched a three-week high on Friday as investor sentiment got a boost after Sri Lanka raised $1.5 billion in its first sale of dual-tranche eurobonds last week.

The more-than $5.5 billion in offers for the issue showed that global investors were bullish about the prospects of the $82-billion economy.

Yields on local T-bills fell at an auction on Wednesday for the second time since April 15, following the strong response to the bond deal.

Turnover stood at 585.7 million rupees ($4.02 million), well below this year's daily average of around 735.9 million rupees.

Overseas investors, who were net sellers of shares worth 4.86 billion rupees so far this year, were net buyers worth 41.8 million rupees of equities on Thursday.

Among the index heavyweights, shares in beverage maker Distillers Company of Sri Lanka Plc rose 2.65 percent, while Cargills (Ceylon) Plc gained 4.16 percent and Hatton National Bank Plc climbed 1.88 percent.

Among the losers, Nestle Lanka Plc slipped 2.9 percent while Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc lost 1.41 percent. 

($1 = 145.7500 Sri Lankan rupees) 

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

BOC among world’s top 1000 banks, ranked no.1 in Sri Lanka

UK’s ‘The Banker’ Magazine has once again named The Bank of Ceylon as the No. 1 Bank in Sri Lanka among the world’s top 1000 banks in its July 2016 issue.

BOC has won many accolades in the recent past including the title as the ‘Strongest Bank’ in the country given by the ‘Asian Banker’ for the strength of its 2015 balance sheet, the Gold Award as the winner of the National Business Excellence Awards Ceremony and being named the No.1 Brand in the country for the eighth consecutive time. It was able to reach its second trillion by gaining Rs. one trillion deposits in 2016.

The first trillion in assets was achieved in 2012 BOC is set to reach its third trillion in the near future. Breaking its own record set by its 2014 profit before tax of Rs.20.3 billion, it earned the highest ever profit made by a single Sri Lankan business entity which is Rs. 25.3 billion PBT in 2015. This was a 25% growth over the previous year.

“Being able to hold the title as the leading Sri Lankan bank in the World’s Top 1000 banks list is truly a privilege and an honor. As always we have moved forward on a steadfast track as the exemplarily bank in the country’s financial industry. It is my duty to thank all our stakeholders including our Customers and the Government of Sri Lanka at this juncture for encouraging us throughout these years to reach such heights.” Chairman Ronald C. Perera said.

“We have been always driven by the motive of bringing the best out through every task we carry out as the leading bank in the country. It is my duty to thank my committed staff for all their hard work that was put in to get achievements such as this.” General Manager D.M. Gunasekera said.

“The Banker” Magazine UK, is one of the premier banking and finance magazines in the world and has been so since its inception in 1926. The Benchmark top 1000 bank list has been compiled by the “The Banker” since 1970. The Banker database holds comprehensive financial data, news feeds and executive contact data on the leading banks in every country and its ranking sets in the industry standard for measuring bank performance and strength.

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Sri Lanka 03-, 06-month Treasuries yields fall

ECONOMYNEXT - Yield on 03-month and 06-month Sri Lankan Treasury Bills fell at Wednesday’s auction while those on one-year bills remained steady, the Central Bank’s public debt department said.

The yield on 03-month bills fell 03 basis points to 8.80% while the yield on 06-month bills fell 14 basis points to 9.75% and that on 01-year bills remained at 10.49%.

The public debt department got bids worth 22.5 billion rupees and accepted bids worth 9.9 billion rupees.

Nimal Perera sells stake in Sri Lanka’s Kalamazoo

ECONOMYNEXT - High net-worth investor Nimal Perera sold his controlling stake in Kalamazoo Systems to Renuka Holdings for almost Rs50 million Wednesday, a stock exchange filing said.

Renuka bought altogether 34,325 shares of Kalamazoo or an almost 70% stake at Rs1,428 a share.

Nimal Perera bought his stake in Kalamazoo Systems, a virtual shell company, in September 2015 at Rs1,067 a share.

Sri Lanka's SEC halts payment on controversial Agalawatte deal

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered a stock broker to halt the payment on a 60 percent stake in Agalawatte Plantations, following a complaint by some shareholders of the privately held controlling Mackwoods group.

Members of Sri Lanka's Nonis family are involved in multiple legal battles alleging mis-management of the group by Chrishantha Nonis, who is de facto chairman.

A 60 percent stake of Agalawatte Plantations, a listed company owned by Mackwoods Plantations Private Ltd, an unlisted company, was sold last week, leading to complaints by Nonis's sisters to SEC.

The SEC in a directive said Nirmalie Samaratunga and M J Varma has complained to the SEC that the stake was sold "without due authorisation and without the approval of the shareholders of Mackwoods Plantations Private Limited.

SEC said Shelendra Ranaweera and Lalith Fonseka were the authorised to instruct brokers to sell shares held by the firm it in dematerialized account, but the instructions had come from Chris Nonis.

SEC said it had to verify whether Nonis was authorized to sell the shares and whether shareholders of Mackwoods Plantations had approved the sale.

SEC told Claridge Stockbrokers Private Ltd, a member of the Mackwoods group, to withhold the sale proceeds of the transaction and retain it with the firm until the regulator probed it and issued new instructions.

Sri Lankan shares end little changed; large caps lead losers

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares ended little changed on Wednesday as gains led by top conglomerate John Keells Holdings were offset by losses in large caps, while investors turned cautious ahead of a policy statement by the government in early August.

The benchmark Colombo stock index ended down 0.02 percent, or 1.32 points lower, at 6,414.49 in thin trade.

"Though the market ended in negative note, we have seen some interest in blue chip counters," said Dimantha Mathew, head of research, First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd.

"Confidence level is improving and investors are having positive mindset. There is not a lot of selling pressure and investors are slowly collecting at their levels."

Investors are waiting for direction on the country's economic policies that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to announce in August, dealers said.

Turnover stood at 576.1 million rupees ($3.95 million), well below this year's daily average of around 737 million rupees.

Overseas investors, who were net sellers of shares worth 4.9 billion rupees so far this year, were net buyers worth 18.6 million rupees of equities on Wednesday.

Shares in Indo Malay Estate Plc fell as much as 13.83 percent, while Sri Lanka Telecom Plc lost 0.77 percent and Commercial Leasing and Finance Plc fell as much as 2.56 percent.

Shares of conglomerate John Keells Holding Plc ended 1.62 percent higher.

The index touched a three-week high on Friday as investor sentiment got a boost after Sri Lanka raised $1.5 billion in its first sale of dual-tranche eurobonds last week.

The more-than $5.5 billion in offers for the issue showed that global investors were bullish about the prospects of the $82-billion economy.

Yields on local T-bills fell at an auction on Wednesday for the second time since April 15, following the strong response to the bond deal.

($1 = 146.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)

Sri Lanka tobacco taxes among highest in the world

With President Maithripala Sirisena and Health Minister Rajitha Senarathna campaigning to further tax cigarettes, industry analysts have warned that tobacco taxation in Sri Lanka is already among the highest in the world.

According to the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic (2015), Sri Lanka falls among countries with the highest tax incidence in the world. The report also indicates that developed countries such as America, Japan, Singapore and Australia have far lower tax incidences when compared to Sri Lanka.

Last year Government levies amounted to Rs. 80.4 billion, up from Rs. 66 billion, whilst the Value Added to the State was Rs. 91.6 billion. This amounted to 7% of the Government’s total tax revenue.
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