Sri Lanka SEC appoints Vajira Wijegunawardene as Director General

COLOMBO (EconomyNext) - Sri Lanka's capital markets watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has appointed Vajira Wijegunawardene as its Director General with immediate effect.

Wijegunawardene had been the SEC's Director -Capital Market Development.

He has a degree in Business Management and Administration from the University of Reading, UK and a Masters Degree in Financial Economics from the University of Colombo. He was an Investment Analyst and Fund Manager for 10 years before joining the SEC.

The Director General’s post had been vacant for some time and Wijegunawardene had been shortlisted along with the SEC's Deputy Director General Dhammika Perera.

Sri Lanka shares end flat ahead of holidays

(Reuters) - Sri Lankan shares closed nearly unchanged on Friday as investors stayed away ahead of a holiday-shortened week, with net buying by foreign investors boosting turnover, dealers said.

The key Sri Lankan index ended up 0.03 percent, or 1.77 points higher, at 6,901.06 on Friday, hovering near its lowest close since March 31 hit on Thursday.

"Most of the investors stayed away due to political uncertainty and ahead of the holidays," said Reshan Wediwardana, research analyst at First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd.

He said buying by foreign investors in Dialog Axiata Plc boosted turnover, but the stock closed steady on Friday.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 236.4 million rupees ($1.78 million) worth of shares on Friday, extending the net foreign inflow so far this year to 3.62 billion rupees.

The day's turnover was 605.3 million rupees ($4.55 million), roughly half of this year's daily average of 1.11 billion rupees.

The market will be closed on April 13 and April 14 for the traditional Sinhala-Tamil new year holiday.

The index had lost 6.6 percent last month, its biggest monthly drop since October 2012, as investors sold their holdings to settle margin trades amid concerns about political stability and a rise in interest rates.

The increased borrowing has put pressure on government finances and pushed up yields on treasury bills by between 82 and 99 basis points (bps) since Jan. 7.

($1 = 132.9000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

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

Sri Lanka's Colombo Stock Exchange increases listing fees

Apr 09, 2014 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's stock exchange has increased its existing fees that should be payable by companies seeking a listing of its securities, the CSE said in a statement.

The CSE has obtained the necessary approval from the securities and exchange commission with regard to the amendment of section 11 of its listing rules.

The directive has been effective from 06 April 2015.

As per the new rules, the initial listing fee payable when the ordinary voting shares of an entity are listed on the exchange will be 150,000 rupees.

The initial listing fee payable when the ordinary voting shares of an entity are listed on the BOI board of the exchange will be 500,000 rupees.

BOI board is a fresh initiative of the stock exchange that will allow BOI registered companies to list their securities in the stock market.

"Necessary rules have been already finalized and we are waiting for the first company to be listed in the BOI board." CSE head of market development Niroshan Wijesundera told LBO.

Refer the CSE official site to access the full report of the amended rules.

Bogala Graphite Lanka reopens Rangala mine

COLOMBO (EconomyNext) - Bogala Graphite Lanka, a unit of Netherlands-based AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V., said it had resumed production at a disused mine in an effort to reduce costs amid growing competition.

The mine at Rangala, fully owned by Bogala, and located 8 km southeast of the Bogala mines, can produce 300 metric tonnes a year.

"In order to reduce the overall cost of mining we have decided to open Rangala mine, which we kept in maintenance since 1985," the company told shareholders in its just-released annual report.

"This mine has already started to produce and will be capable to produce 300MT per year by the end of the year. Since this mine is very accessible the cost of mining will be very competitive."

Bogala Graphite directors have not recommended a dividend for the year ended 31st December 2014 due to the capital investment requirement to upgrade the production facilities to meet possible competition emerging in the industry, and region.

"We are observing the increasing activities of the competition and new players in Sri Lanka and are well positioned and continuing to prepare the company to face any challenges that might be posed by competitors," the report said.

More foreign firms have begun exploring and getting mining rights in Sri Lanka after he end of the ethnic war.

Consortium makes Rs5.5bn bid for Sri Lanka's Ceylinco Insurance stock in Trust

COLOMBO (EconomyNext) - A consortium of domestic and foreign investors have made a bid in excess of 5.5 billion rupees for 3.5 million Ceylinco Insurance shares held in a trust which is expected to be dissolved under stock exchange rules, sources familiar with the matter said.

The Ceylinco Insurance Employee Share Ownership Trust (CIESOT) holds 4.57 million shares or a 22.8 percent stake in the insurer.

The consortium has made a bid of around 1,600 rupees per share for 3.57 million shares valuing it around 5.5 billion rupees, sources said. It leaves one million shares or 5 percent of the company to be distributed to workers in kind, sources said.

It was not immediately clear whether the trust would reject or consider the offer.

Ajith Gunawardena, head of Ceylinco's general insurance unit and a trustee said, all decisions would be taken according to the trust deed, without elaborating. Any dissolution of the trust would also take place according to the trust deed, he said.

Under Sri Lanka's existing listing rules permanent share trusts for employees are no longer permitted for companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange and new share ownership plans are limited to 5 percent of the total equity at any time.

All legacy plans and trusts have to be dissolved and distributed to the beneficial owners under an allotment plan and any balance sold on the stock exchange and the cash proceeds also distributed.

Several listed companies that had share trusts dissolved them last year, ahead of the dead of the deadline, while CIESOT was embroiled in a court battle.

Sri Lanka's Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment on any decision they may make on the matter.

The shares of Ceylinco Insurance has drawn investor interest following the collapse of the Ceylinco group, with investors trying to gain control.

Global Rubber Industries (Pvt) Ltd, which holds 22.25 percent of stock and connected shareholders, who do not have board seats, have also gone to court.

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court in a decision this year determined that CIESOT was a share ownership trust where workers were the beneficial owners, thwarting an attempt by depositors of the collapsed Golden Key Credit Card Company to use the shares to make good the losses.