Sri Lankan stocks end at 2-week high; blue-chips lead

Dec 19 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan stocks ended at their highest in two weeks on Friday led by blue-chips, amid political worries ahead of the Jan. 8 presidential poll, stockbrokers said.

The main stock index ended 0.31 percent firmer at 7,252.60, a level last touched on Dec. 4. It had hit a near three-week low on Wednesday.

Stockbrokers said the gains were not sustainable because there was no fundamental reason for the market to rise.

The day's turnover stood at 660.8 million rupees ($5.04 million), stock exchange data showed, less than half of this year's daily average of 1.41 billion rupees.

The bourse saw a net foreign inflow of 14.4 million rupees this session, extending net inflows so far this year to 21.7 billion rupees, exchange data showed.

Market heavyweight John Keells Holdings gained 1.74 percent to 251.30 rupees, while top fixed-line phone operator Sri Lanka Telecom rose 2.59 percent to 51.50 rupees.

Trading is expected to be sluggish due to political uncertainty ahead of the presidential polls next month, with the index seen falling through December-end.

Political analysts see a tight race between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his former health minister Mithripala Sirisena, the consensus candidate of a united opposition.

Sirisena in his policy announcement on Friday said he would eliminate rampant corruption and reduce prices of essential goods and fuel by cutting taxes.

Eleven legislators from Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance, including Sirisena, defected after he announced snap elections last month. Two opposition legislators have defected to Rajapaksa's party.

Speculation over more defections also weighed on sentiment, analysts said. 

($1 = 131.2000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sunil Nair)

Ceylinco Life, the fastest to achieve a Life Fund of Rs 60 bn

Sri Lanka’s life insurance leader Ceylinco Life has announced that the company’s Life Fund exceeded Rs 60 billion at the end of November 2014, and is a strong indication of the financial strength of the company.

Ceylinco Life is the fastest among local life insurers to achieve a Life Fund of Rs 60 billion, the company said.

Total assets grew by a robust 19.4 per cent to Rs 76.35 billion as at 30th September 2014, while the company’s investments increased by an even more noteworthy 22.4 per cent to Rs 62.152 billion over the nine months reviewed.

Gross premium income was up by 4 per cent over the corresponding nine months of 2013 to Rs 8.6 billion as at 30th September 2014, and investment income grew by 10.2 per cent to Rs 5 billion, Ceylinco Life said in a filing with the Colombo Stock Exchange.

The company paid gross benefits and claims to the value of 3.5 billion in the nine months reviewed, down marginally over the amount paid at the end of the third quarter of the preceding year.

"These figures are an objective affirmation of the quality of our life insurance operations and investment strategies in an environment that is challenging for both aspects," Ceylinco Life’s Managing Director/CEO R. Renganathan said. "Disposable incomes continue to shrink, making life insurance a low priority in many customer segments, while low interest rates have a dampening effect on financial investments."

"In this context, the growth of the Life Fund, assets, premium income and investments in the first nine months of the year underline the ability of the company to not only weather market conditions, but to improve on all key performance indicators, even in difficult times," he said.

Ceylinco Life’s performance has also won international recognition with World Financeadjudging the company the ‘Best Life Insurance Company in Sri Lanka’ in 2014, Mr Renganathan noted.

The prestigious UK-based bi-monthly magazine gave Ceylinco Life high markets in several areas of assessment including efficiency in processing new business, focus on customer retention, employee and agent training, ensuring best practices within the company, financial performance, market research and measuring customer satisfaction.

The market leader in Sri Lanka’s life insurance industry for 11 consecutive years from 2004, Ceylinco Life ended 2013 with total income of Rs 17.573 billion, of which Gross Written Premium Income amounted to Rs 11.123 billion. The company’s Life Fund stood at Rs 52.765 billion and total assets had reached Rs 63.95 billion at the end of the year.

Ceylinco Life has close to a million lives covered by active policies. The company is acknowledged as the benchmark for innovation in the local insurance industry for its work in product research and development, customer service, professional development and corporate social responsibility.
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