Singhe Hospitals to issue 100 million ordinary voting shares

The Colombo Stock Exchange has approved in principle the application for the listing of ordinary voting shares of Singhe Hospitals Limited on the Diri Savi Board.

Singhe Hospitals Limited is to issue 100 million ordinary voting shares at Rs. 2.50 each with the opening date being 12 March 2015.

Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka and Finance PLC are managers and registrars to the issue.

The prospectus would be delivered to members firms and trading members on 27 February 2015.
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Sri Lanka rupee steady; cbank defends

Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Sri Lankan rupee traded steady on Wednesday for the seventh straight session as the central bank via moral suasion defended the currency, which has been under pressure due to tepid dollar demand from importers, dealers said.

Pressure on the currency is expected to persist despite the central bank's actions until inflows start to come in, they said.

Sri Lanka's newly-elected government has said it would borrow up to $1.5 billion through sovereign bonds and $4 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restructure expensive loans.

The spot currency was traded at 132.80/133.00 per dollar at 0655 GMT, unchanged from Monday's close.

The stock and currency markets were closed on Tuesday for a Hindu religious holiday.

"Central bank is offering dollars at 132.80 for some banks," said a currency dealer asking not to be named.

The central bank has been defending the spot currency's level at 132.80 since Feb. 6, after it lowered the spot rate to 132.80 from 132.20 amid depreciation pressure.

Central bank officials were not immediately available for comment.

Dealers said trading in most forwards was thin after the central bank narrowed the per-day premium to 2 cents on Feb. 9 from 5 cents.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on Feb. 9 that the rupee would be held steady at current levels and "there won't be any devaluation at all".

Karunanayake told Reuters that Sri Lanka would sell up to $1.5 billion of sovereign bonds in the international market soon and is looking to borrow $4 billion from IMF at very cheap rates for balance of payments support.

The main stock index traded 0.15 percent or 11.04 points weaker, at 7,289.71 at 0700 GMT.

The turnover was 465.7 million rupees ($3.51 million). 

($1 = 132.8000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sunil Nair)

Fitch Rates Singer Finance's Proposed Senior Debt 'BBB(lka)(EXP)'

(The following statement was released by the rating agency) 

COLOMBO, February 18 (Fitch) 

Fitch Ratings has assigned Singer Finance (Lanka) PLC's (SFL; BBB(lka)/Stable) proposed listed senior secured debentures of up to LKR1.5bn an Expected National Long-Term rating of 'BBB(lka)(EXP)'. 

The proposed issuance is expected to have a tenor of five years with a fixed-rate coupon. SFL expects to use the proceeds to fund lending growth, lengthen maturities of its liabilities, and reduce structural maturity mismatches. The debenture is secured by a primary mortgage over receivables from identified hire-purchase and lease agreements exceeding 110%of the total outstanding value of the debenture at any given time. Being a secured debenture, SFL will be omitted from the enhanced statutory liquid assets requirement. This is in contrast to unsecured borrowings for which SFL will need to post a 10% minimum reserve with the central bank if not included in the company's capital funds. Fitch will assign a final rating to the issue subject to the receipt of final transaction documents conforming to information already received. 

KEY RATING DRIVERS 

The issue has been rated at the same level as SFL's National Long-Term rating. Fitch has not provided any rating uplift for the collateralisation as the secured notes' recovery prospects are considered to be average and comparable with those of the unsecured notes in a developing legal system. SFL's rating reflects Fitch's view that support would be forthcoming from its parent, Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC (SSLP; 'A-(lka)'/Stable) if needed, given its strategic importance to SSLP. This view is premised on: the common Singer brand; SSLP's majority shareholding; board representation; the financing by SFL of some of SSLP's products; and demonstration past support in the form of equity injection and borrowings. SFL's National Long-Term Rating is underpinned by its standalone credit profile which reflects better capitalisation levels, modest profitability and satisfactory asset-quality when compared with similarly rated domestic peers. 

RATING SENSITIVITIES 

Any changes to SFL's National Long-Term rating would impact the issue's rating. As such, the issue rating is sensitive to changes to Fitch's view on SSLP's ability and propensity to provide support to SFL. A weakening in SFL's intrinsic strength would only trigger a downgrade of its National Long-Term rating if Fitch's support assessment were to change at the same time. Fitch believes that an upgrade for SFL would most likely result from a significant increase in SFL's strategic importance to SSLP. The development of SFL's franchise, while maintaining its financial profile relative to higher-rated peers, could also lead to a positive rating action. 

Contact: 

Primary Analyst Dilranie Mudannayake Analyst +94 112541900 Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited Level15-04, East Tower, World Trade Center, Colombo 01, Sri Lanka 

Secondary Analyst Shyamila Serasinghe Analyst +94 112541900 

Committee Chairperson Sabine Bauer Senior Director +852 2263 9966 

Media Relations: 

Bindu Menon, Mumbai, Tel: +91 22 4000 1727, Email: bindu.menon@fitchratings.com; Leslie Tan, Singapore, Tel: +65 67 96 7234, Email: leslie.tan@fitchratings.com. 

Note to editors: 

Fitch's National ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries with relatively low international sovereign ratings and where there is demand for such ratings. The best risk within a country is rated 'AAA' and other credits are rated only relative to this risk. National ratings are designed for use mainly by local investors in local markets and are signified by the addition of an identifier for the country concerned, such as 'AAA(lka)' for National ratings in Sri Lanka. Specific letter grades are not therefore internationally comparable. Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com. Applicable criteria, 'Global Financial Institutions Rating Criteria', dated 31 January 2014, 'National Scale Ratings Criteria', dated 30 October 2013, 'Finance and Leasing Companies Criteria' dated 11 December 2012 , 'Rating FI Subsidiaries and Holding Companies Criteria, dated 10 August 2012, and 'Evaluating Corporate Governance', dated 12 December 2012 are available at www.fitchratings.com. 

Applicable Criteria and Related Research: 

Global Financial Institutions Rating Criteria here 

National Scale Ratings Criteria here 

Finance and Leasing Companies Criteria here 

Rating FI Subsidiaries and Holding Companies here 

Evaluating Corporate Governance here 

Additional Disclosure Solicitation Status here 

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS.

PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK:here. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.

Sri Lanka Treasury bill yields up: Central Bank

Feb 18, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka's Treasury bill yields were up on Wednesday’s auction with the 12-month yield increased to 6.12 percent from 6.10 percent in the last auction, data from the state debt office showed.

6-month yield was also up at 6.03 percent and 2,391 million rupees were accepted from 7,016 million rupees.

The debt office re offered 10,000 million rupees of maturing debt and the auction was oversubscribed with bids amounting to 22,909 million rupees being received. It was decided to accept 8,534 million rupees from the auction.

The debt office which is part of the island's central bank offered 3-month short term bills for the auction at 5.94 percent and 3,411 million rupees were accepted from 6,111 million rupees.

Sri Lankan stocks at over 1-wk closing low

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan stocks fell to their lowest in more than a week in thin trade on Wednesday led by market heavyweights Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc and John Keells Holdings Plc.

The main stock index, edged down 0.46 percent, or 33.91 points, to 7,266.84, its lowest close since Feb. 9.

Turnover was at 803.6 million rupees ($6.05 million), well below this year's daily average of 1.45 billion rupees.

"Not much of retail activity, overall market was a little silent despite earnings released so far being good," said Dimantha Mathew, manager, research at First Capital Equities (pvt) Ltd.

Shares in Ceylon Tobacco fell 2.70 percent, while conglomerate John Keells fell 1.55 percent.

Dialog Axiata Plc, which said its fourth quarter net profit waas up 11.7 pct, ended 2.44 percent weaker.

Foreign investors sold a net 57.1 million rupees worth of shares on Wednesday, but they have been net buyers of 1.52 billion rupees worth of shares so far this year. The bourse saw net foreign inflows of 22.07 billion rupees in 2014.

The stock and foreign exchange markets were closed on Tuesday for a Hindu religious holiday. 

($1 = 132.8000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sunil Nair)

Dialog Posts Rs. 6.1Bn Net Profit for FY 2014

Infrastructure Investments of Rs 15.2Bn in 2014 

Sri Lanka’s premier telecommunications service provider, Dialog Axiata PLC, announced its consolidated financial results for the year ended 31st December, 2014 including those for Dialog Axiata PLC (the “Company”) and of the Dialog Axiata Group (the “Group”) post-consolidation with subsidiaries Dialog Broadband Networks (Pvt) Ltd (“DBN”), and Dialog Television (Pvt) Ltd (“DTV”). 

The Group demonstrated strong growth in revenue across Mobile, Digital Pay Television and Fixed Line businesses to record consolidated revenue of Rs67.3Bn for the Financial Year (FY) 2014 and Rs17.3Bn for Q4 2014 respectively, representing an increase of 6% Year on Year (“YoY”) and 2% Quarter on Quarter (“QoQ”). On the backdrop of strong revenue growth, Group EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation) for FY 2014 was recorded at Rs20.9Bn, an increase of 5% YoY and 1% QoQ. Group EBITDA margin for FY 2014 was registered at 31.1%. 

Underpinned by growth in EBITDA and lower translational forex losses than in the previous year, Group Net Profit After Tax for FY 2014 grew by 17% YoY to be recorded at Rs6.1Bn. On a QoQ comparison however, Group NPAT (Net Profit After Tax) for Q4 2014 contracted by 13% QoQ due to the recognition of non-cash translational foreign exchange losses amounting to Rs290Mn in Q4 2014 following the depreciation of the SLR relative to the USD by 1.1% QoQ. 

The Group contributed Rs11.1Bn in taxes, fees and levies to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) during the financial year ended 31st December 2014, inclusive of Income Tax on the basis of 2% of company revenue. Further, the Group additionally collected consumption taxes, totalling to Rs13.3Bn on behalf of the GoSL during FY 2014, comprising in the main of Telecom Levy collections amounting to Rs10.5Bn. Accordingly, remittances to the GoSL accruing from the operations of the Group totalled to Rs24.4Bn. 

The consolidated financial results for the year ended 31st December 2014 excludes any and all impacts from the Interim Budget 2015. The Interim Budget was presented by the GoSL on 29th January 2015 and was passed by the Parliament of Sri Lanka on 07th February 2015. The GoSL is in the process of enacting legislation corresponding to the Budget Proposals which would bring the said proposals in to force and also provide definitive clarity with respect to applicability and implementation parameters. 
Accordingly, and pending legislation and clarity as at the time of announcement, the consolidated financial results as reported excludes any and all impacts from the Interim Budget. 

At an entity level, Dialog Axiata PLC (“the Company”) featuring the Mobile, International and Tele-Infrastructure segments of the Group portfolio continued to contribute a major share of Group Revenue (85%) and of Group EBITDA (88%). Revenue grew by 5% YoY on the back of its Mobile subscriber base of 9.5Million, to reach Rs58.0Bn for FY 2014. Underpinned by strong performance in Revenue, Company EBITDA for FY 2014 increased by 5% YoY to be recorded at Rs18.5Bn, translating to an EBITDA margin of 31.8%. 

The Company NPAT for FY 2014 was recorded at Rs7.0Bn, representing an increase of 15% YoY on the backdrop of improved EBITDA and lower translational forex losses relative to previous year. 

DTV, the Digital Pay Television business of the Group continued its positive growth momentum, recording a revenue growth of 30% YoY to reach Rs4.7Bn for FY 2014. DTV EBITDA was recorded at Rs863Mn for the same period, an improvement of 30% YoY driven by strong revenue growth. On the backdrop of growth in EBITDA, Net Profit for FY 2014 was recorded at Rs243Mn, compared to a Net Loss of Rs301Mn posted in FY 2013. The company’s Pay TV subscriber base grew by 36% YoY to be recorded at 452,000 as at end of December 2014. 

DBN featuring the Group’s Fixed Telecommunications and Broadband Business recorded revenue of Rs6.2Bn for FY 2014, representing an increase of 6% YoY. Notwithstanding strong revenue performance, DBN EBITDA contracted by 1% YoY to reach Rs1.5Bn for FY 2014 due to the expiration of VAT credits totalling to Rs392Mn recognised in FY 2013. DBN’s Net Loss for FY 2014 was recorded at Rs941Mn relative to the Net Loss of Rs481Mn in FY 2013. Negative NPAT performance was attributed to the decline in EBITDA in combine with the increase in depreciation related to Fixed 4G LTE related investments. 

Group capital expenditure for FY 2014 amounted to Rs15.2Bn. Capital expenditure was directed in the main towards investments in 2G, 3G and 4G networks, Optical Fibre Network (OFN) expansion projects and the Bay of Bengal Gateway (BBG) Sub-Marine Cable project to further strengthen the Group’s leadership in Sri Lanka’s ICT sector. 

Group Free Cash Flow (FCF) was recorded at Rs4.5Bn for FY 2014 on the back of improved EBITDA and lower capital expenditure. The Group continued to exhibit a structurally robust balance sheet with the Net Debt to EBITDA ratio being recorded at 0.92x as at end of December 2014. The Group has deferred the definitive quantification of Cash Flows available for the disbursement of dividends, until such time the impact of the Interim Budget 2015 is determined with certainty. 

About Dialog Axiata PLC 
Dialog Axiata PLC, a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata), operates Sri Lanka’s largest mobile telecommunications network. The Company is also one of the largest listed companies on the Colombo Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalization. Dialog is also Sri Lanka's largest Foreign Direct Investor (FDI) with investments totalling over USD 1.7 billion. 

Dialog has been at the forefront of innovation in the mobile industry in Sri Lanka since the late 90’s, propelling the nation’s mobile telephony infrastructure to a level of advancement on par with the developed world. The company delivers advanced mobile telephony and high speed mobile broadband services to a subscriber base in excess of 9 Million Sri Lankans, via 2.5G and 3G/3.5G and 4G networks. In April 2013, the company secured the distinction of becoming the first service provider in South Asia to launch mobile 4G FD-LTE services. The company was also the first service provider in South Asia to launch 3G services in 2006. Dialog also provides a comprehensive suite of International Roaming Services across a global footprint comprising of more than 200 countries, and operates a wide portfolio of international telecommunication services, including but not limited to retail and wholesale international voice and data services. 

Dialog Axiata supplements its market leading position in the Mobile Telecommunications sector with a robust footprint and market presence in Sri Lanka’s Fixed Telecommunications and Digital Television markets through its fully owned subsidiaries Dialog Broadband Networks (Private) Ltd (DBN) and Dialog Television (Private) Ltd., (DTV). 

Dialog is an ISO 9001 certified company and has received numerous local and international awards including the National Quality Award, Sri Lanka Business Excellence Award, and 3 successive GSM World Awards. At the SLIM-Nielsen People's Choice Awards 2014, Dialog was voted by Sri Lankan consumers as the Telecom Service Provider of the Year in addition to being named Youth Brand and Internet Service Provider of the Year.

Gestetner of Ceylon Plc to raise Rs. 45.5 m via Rights

Gestetner of Ceylon Plc has announced plans to raise Rs. 45.5 million via a Rights Issue to further enhance its business.

The company’s Board of Directors has resolved to issue Rights on the basis of one new share for every six held at Rs. 120 per share.
Gestetner has 2.278 million of ordinary shares in issue and the proposed move will create 379,687 new shares.

The last traded price of Gestetner was Rs. 158 on Friday. Its net assets per share as at 31 December 2014 was Rs. 74.24 at the group level and Rs. 64.87 at the company level, up from Rs. 53.21 and Rs. 47.09 from a year ago.

Funds will be used for the purpose of infusing fresh capital into the company for investment in software, equipment and manpower in order to offer solutions to customers, adopting global trends in IT and office automation sectors.

Gestetner saw group revenue up 7% to Rs. 172 million in the third quarter and by 11% to Rs. 448.6 million during the first nine months of FY2015.

After-tax profit grew by 20% to Rs. 21.3 million in the third quarter and by 57% to Rs. 46.3 million during the first nine months. In FY2014, after-tax profit was Rs. 31.3 million.

The Rights Issue is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.
Gestetner (Eastern) Ltd. holds 49% stake in the company. Other major shareholders include A.A.N. de Fonseka (16.6%) and R.H.S. Phillips (12.3%).
www.ft.lk