Sri Lanka's Orient Finance gets CB nod for listing

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's Orient Finance Plc, said it had received the nod from banking regulator to for a public listing.

Orient Finance was earlier known as Bartleet Finance Plc.

Orient Finance said the Central Bank had approved the listing of shares by an initial public offer.

Sri Lankan shares fall to near 7-week low on weaker rupee

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares fell for a second straight session on Monday to close at a near seven-week low as the rupee continued its downward trend after the central bank floated the currency.

Investor risk appetite was also affected by weak Asian stocks, weighed down by a fall in China shares following a four-day market holiday.

The Sri Lankan rupee fell on Monday, following a 3-percent decline in the previous session, as late importer dollar demand outpaced early exporter dollar sales.

The main stock index ended 0.91 percent lower, or 65.41 points weaker, at 7,149.70, its lowest close since July 21.

"Local selling continued and investors are worried about the fall in the rupee. Also, the global situation is not that good for the market," said a stockbroker asking not to be named.

Foreign investors, however, bought 69.9 million rupees ($508,364) worth of shares on Monday, but they have sold a net 3.42 billion rupees so far this year.

Turnover stood at 599.6 million rupees, around half of this year's daily average of 1.15 billion rupees.

Shares in Nestle Lanka Plc fell 2.02 percent, while Hayleys Plc fell 7.74 percent, dragging the index down.

($1 = 137.5000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Anand Basu)

Foreign holding of Sri Lanka govt securities falls during week

(LBO) – The holding of Sri Lanka government securities by foreign investors reduced to 350 billion rupees in the week to September 02, from 375 billion rupees in the previous week, information from the central bank showed.

Foreign investors held 457 billion rupees worth of government securities at the beginning of the year. This reflects an outflow of 25 billion rupees for the week, and an outflow of 107 billion rupees so far this year, a dealer at Perpetual Treasuries said.

The percentage of government securities held by foreigners has fallen to around 8.1 percent from 13 percent at its peak. Last week, the total stock of treasury bills and bonds increased to 4,326 billion rupees, from 4,317 billion rupees, the central bank’s weekly indicators showed.

Likely due to turbulent currencies, low interest rates in Sri Lanka and the prospect of tightening monetary policy in the global economy, foreign investors have pulled out of government securities this year.

These outflows and a widened trade deficit may have prompted the central bank to allow a depreciation of the rupee to 137.50/138.00 against the dollar on Friday, from 134.75 on Thursday.

Blue Diamonds ‘rising’ to new international heights

By Sanath Nanayakkare

Blue Diamonds Jewellery Worldwide PLC (BDJW), the manufacturer and marketer of the internationally acclaimed fine diamond jewellery is making steady progress in both local and international markets. BDJW is a pioneer in the manufacture and export of diamond jewellery from Sri Lanka to international markets and it was the first company to export jewellery from Sri Lanka under International brand names.

Mohan Ratwatte, CEO-BDJW told The Island Financial Review that the company has been going from strength to strength with its current markets namely; the Middle East, China and Japan.

"Our latest push is to expand our markets to the USA and Europe after having studied the trends there. We'll be able to do this effectively with our high-value product offerings made by specialized jewellery craftsmen," he said.

BDJW's envisaged target is to export products worth Rs. 360 million per year.

The product range will comprise floating diamonds and creations of innovative designs with micro-pave and micro-mirror-polish setting technologies along with high-value Blue Sapphire studded jewellery.

"Our premier brand names being "Fior-Drissage & Fior" turned out to be highly successful at many International Jewellery Trade Fairs. At present, we are in the process of repositioning this brand to elevate to an even higher level, Ratwatte added.

BDJW was established in 1991 as a board of investment (BOI) approved project by the government of Sri Lanka and is situated at the Katunayake Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) - the country's premier Free Trade Zone located in the vicinity of the International Airport. 

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