Sri Lanka bourse ends at 3-yr high on financials amid speculative trading

Aug 21 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka stocks hovered around three-year highs on Thursday, led by financials due to lower interest rates, but analysts said increasing speculative trading in fundamentally weak shares could impede the healthy growth the index has had this year.

The main stock index ended up 0.07 percent, or 4.78 points, at 7,004.75, its highest close since Aug. 18, 2011.

The index has gained 18.4 percent so far this year.

"Shares with weak fundamentals are also moving up from this week. If this set of stocks gathers momentum, it could be attractive for retail investors," Danushka Samarasinghe, the COO at Softlogic Stockbrokers, told Reuters.

"It could sharply increase the market risk as in the past," he said, referring to the index plummeting more than 20 percent after it hit a record peak in February 2011.

Shares of investment firm and broker Taprobane Holdings jumped 66.7 percent to 4.50 rupees in heavy volume which stockbrokers cited as a speculative move, while market heavyweight John Keells Holdings gained 1.51 percent to 248.70 rupees.

Thursday's turnover was 1.47 billion rupees ($11.3 million), higher than this year's daily average of 1.19 billion rupees.

The bourse saw net foreign inflows of 88.1 million rupees on Thursday, extending the year-to-date inflows to 7.57 billion rupees.

(1 US dollar = 130.2000 Sri Lanka rupee) 

(Reporting By Shihar Aneez; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)

Sri Lanka stocks close higher

Aug 22, 2014 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's stocks closed in a positive territory Friday with index heavy stocks gaining amid strong foreign selling, brokers said.

The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed 3.27 points higher at 7,008.02, up 0.05percent. The S&P SL20 closed 0.97 points higher at 3,863.88, up 0.03 percent.

Turnover was 2.70 billion rupees, up from 1.47 billion rupees a day earlier with 103 stocks closed positive against 105 negative.

John Keells Holdings closed 3.70 rupees lower at 245.00 rupees with eight off-market transactions of 964.54 million rupees changing hands at 244.00 rupees per share contributing 36 percent of the daily turnover.

JKH’s W0022 warrants closed 1.40 rupees lower at 69.00 rupees and its W0023 warrants closed 1.00 rupee lower at 79.00 rupees.

The aggregate value of all off-the-floor deals represented 50 percent of the turnover.

Taprobane Holdings closed 70 cents higher at 5.20 rupees and Lanka Century Investments closed 90 cents higher at 16.40 rupees, attracting most number of trades during the day.

Foreign investors bought 475.53 million rupees worth shares while selling 963.09 million rupees worth shares.

Ceylon Tobacco Company closed 15.00 rupees higher at 1,203.30 rupees and Bukit Darah closed 20.20 rupees higher at 700.20 rupees, contributing most to the index gain.

Sri Lanka ASPI index crosses 7,000 mark

August 22, 2014 (LBO) - An index of stocks by the All Share Price Index (ASPI) Sri Lanka has crossed tandem to 7000 mark yesterday (21-08-14) closing at 7,004.75 points after three years, the Colombo stock exchange (CSE) said in a media release.

The CSE says the market also recorded a high turnover value of 8.2 billion rupees on 19th of August, this year which is the highest record since a turnover value of 15.7 billion rupees on the 16th of March 2012.

The Colombo bourse is within top six best performing markets in the region with the ASPI showing an 18.46 percent year to date growth.

CSE says there have been five equity IPOs, an equity introduction and five debt IPOs within the course of 2014.

The capital raised through Equity IPOs has been the highest since 2011 with 2,693.8 million rupees, being raised in the first eight months of this year and the market has seen a total of 12 billion rupees of debt and equity capital raised through primary and secondary offerings.

Local retail investor participation in the market has grown to 37.9 percent from 33.5 percent in 2013 while foreigners remained net buyers during 2014 with a net foreign inflow of 8 billion rupees, CSE said.

Asia Leisure plan for 100 room luxury hotel in Galle

* Total investment of Rs. 1.8 bn

Asia Leisure, a fully owned subsidiary of Asia Capital PLC (ACAP) today announced the construction of a 100 room luxury resort in Galle, which is expected to be the largest hotel property in the southern coastal town. Asia Leisure currently owns and manages four globally acclaimed luxury boutique hotels in the south – Shinagawa Beach, Tamarind Hill, The River House and Taprobana (opening in 3 weeks). Asia Leisure at present has a 70 room inventory and the new property will more than double its inventory to 170 keys.

A press release said: ‘The property will be built on 2-acres of fine beachfront real estate and will be financed equally by Asia Capital and its Japanese partners. Construction is expected to begin at the end of the year and will take approximately two years to be completed.

‘Speaking about the launch of this new property Stefan Abeyesinhe, the CEO of ACAP said, "As Sri Lanka surges towards becoming a tourism hub, the country has commanded keen interest from global tourism players, with its room inventory expanding through large volumes of foreign direct investments. Given the bullish prospects for tourism, our growing expertise in the leisure sector is of immense strength to the Group’s future. It is with a sense of optimism and accomplishment that we unveil this, our fifth and largest property to date."

‘Explaining the reasons for investing in this project Jin Sashida, the Chairman and CEO of City Creation Holdings Inc said, "The main reason I chose to invest in this project is because I realized that Asia Capital and City Creation Holdings share a very similar goal and vision. Also, Sri Lanka’s economy has been showing healthy growth over the past few years and we are fully confident that under this government this trend will only improve. This is promising for Sri Lanka as a whole and we are very happy to be part of the development of this country."

‘The resort will consist of 100 sea view rooms/suites with all luxury amenities including the options of double bath or plunge pool and will be built under the ‘without boundaries’ concept. The hotel will also consist of a large swimming pool overlooking the Indian Ocean and will feature a Pool Bar and Water Lounge. The spa will offer the finest of therapies and treatments one could ask for while the restaurants add more spice to the stay in the hotel, coupled with the sea breeze and excellent service offered by the hotel staff.

‘The company is also in discussions with two international hotel operators for the management of the property but may also opt to undertake the management themselves considering the experience and knowledge gained from managing its other four properties. Given that Asia Leisure already engages in hotel management, the company has implemented a strategic plan to manage other properties. Asia Leisure has already negotiated for three more hotels in which Asia Leisure would either manage the operations of or have minority financial interest depending on the hotel’s requirements. Hotelier Reyhan Morris, the CEO of Asia Leisure and his team have been brought in due to their expertise and capabilities to take Asia Leisure to the next sphere.
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Amãna Takaful sustains profits, mid-year revenue up 4%

Amãna Takaful PLC ended the first half of 2014 with a moderate GWP growth of 4%, on par with the overall industry. The company’s profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 26.13 million for the first six months was flat compared to the first half of 2013. These results are posted in the context of a very challenging business environment and relatively high claims during the latter part of the second quarter.

Of the company’s consolidated Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs. 928.76 million, the Life segment accounted for Rs. 271 million, growing at 20.6% over last year, out-performing the industry’s 7.6% in the same comparison. ‘Unit-linked’ products, contributed substantially with a growth of 52% over the previous year.

The company’s overall Life fund grew by 16.1% to stand in excess of Rs. 1.08 billion as of 30 June 2014. Investment and other income grew by 98% which reflects our ability to leverage a successful half year performance with strong investment strategies despite the decreasing fixed income rates.

The company has recorded sustained momentum in most areas of the General insurance portfolio. “The overall drop in the sales and registration of the industry’s disproportionately larger motor segment exacerbated by fierce rate cutting has impacted overall industry performance, restricting growth to 4%. Better than expected investment returns, a solid performance in Life, managing costs within budget and holding volume in the Motor segment despite the absurdly low rate cutting by competitors, has helped the company to cruise through the first half satisfactorily,” opined Amãna Takaful Chief Executive Officer Fazal Ghaffoor.

The Group, with the Maldives outfit, generated a GWP of Rs. 1,265 million, recording a growth of 7.5% over the last year. The Group’s profit of Rs. 68.19 million was 11% below in the same comparison, due to a one-off item of Rs. 24 million generated through sale of three subsidiaries last year. For the second successive year Amãna Takaful PLC announced a surplus to its General insurance policyholders (Non-claimants). Marking 15 crystalline years in the insurance landscape in Sri Lanka, the Company awarded a 15% surplus compared to the previous year’s 12.5%.

Amãna Takaful has also led the way in technology upgrades and has aggressively pursued new channels and market development in hitherto unchartered areas such as introducing its new mobile application (Apps) for iPhones and Android devices. The new mobile app can be downloaded free of charge and it enables Amãna Takaful customers to check their policy details speedily and conveniently, from anywhere in the world.

Amãna Takaful was also recently awarded the prestigious Gold for the Islamic Finance Entity of the Year at the Sri Lanka Islamic Banking and Finance Industry (SLIBFI) Awards. The company is in the process of expanding its geographic footprint; with Ratnapura home to the 24th branch in the company’s network.

The current Board of Amãna Takaful PLC includes Tyeab Akbarally (Chairman), Ehsan Zaheed (Executive Director), Non-Executive Directors Osman Kassim, Dr. A.A.M. Haroon and Dr. Ifthikar Ismail and Non-Executive Independent Directors M.H.M. Rafiq, Dato’ Fadzli Yusof and R. Gopinath. Dr. Senthilverl and Ali Sabri have resigned from their posts of Non-Executive Director and Non-Executive Independent Director respectively with effect from August 2014.
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