Sri Lankan shares edge up; turnover slumps to 19-wk low

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares edged up on Friday from a more than seven-week closing low hit in the previous session as investors picked up beaten down shares of companies such as conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc .

The gains were however capped by concerns over a government proposal to reintroduce capital gains tax, brokers said.

Turnover hit a 19-week low as investor sentiment took a hit on continued foreign fund outflows and rising interest rates, dealers said.

The benchmark Colombo stock index ended 0.47 percent higher, or up 30.22 points at 6,465.99, edging up from its lowest close since April 27 hit on Thursday.

It lost nearly 1 percent on the week.

"After yesterday's panic selling, the market recovered on valued stocks like Keells and Commercial," said Atchuthan Srirangan, a senior research analyst at First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd.

Shares in conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc rose 1.27 percent, while Commercial Leasing & Finance Plc jumped 5.41 percent and the biggest listed lender Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc gained 1.27 percent.

"But still the retailers are on the sidelines waiting to see the real impact of the capital gains tax, even though there was some clarity that the tax is on property and not on stocks," he added.

On Thursday, the bourse fell 1 percent as concerns over a government decision to reintroduce capital gains tax kept investors on the sidelines.

Sri Lanka's cabinet approved a proposal to reintroduce the tax on Wednesday, especially on land sales, with a cabinet spokesman saying no decision had been taken on whether the tax would apply to capital gains in the share market.

Turnover stood at 261.7 million rupees ($1.80 million), the lowest since Feb. 11 and well below this year's daily average of around 760.1 million rupees.

Overseas funds offloaded a net 44.9 million rupees worth of equities on Friday, extending the year to date net foreign outflow to 5.64 billion rupees worth shares.

Treasury bill yields rose between 1 and 4 basis points at a weekly auction on Wednesday. They have risen between 6 and 40 basis points since the central bank left key policy rates steady for on May 20.

The average prime lending rate edged up 24 basis points to 10.47 percent in the week ended June 10. Stockbrokers have said rising interest rates could be detrimental to risk assets if they jump beyond 12 percent. 

($1 = 145.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

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

Sri Lanka’s listed Shalimar and Indo Malay to sell two estates

(LBO) – Sri Lanka’s listed Shalimar and Indo Malay have entered into a deal to sell two estates to a Malaysian company subject to certain conditions.

Following the shareholder approval obtained at the EGM held last month, the directors have executed a sale and purchase agreement with Euro-Asia Brand Holding Company, a subsidiary of Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad.

Hap Seng Consolidated is a non-related public listed company in the main market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.

Shalimar (Malay) has agreed to sell their Shalimar estate for 121 million Malaysian ringgits and Indo Malay is to sell their Berjuntai estate for 107 million Malaysian ringgits.

Shalimar and Indo Malay are subsidiaries of Goodhope Asia Holdings whose ultimate parent company is Carson Cumberbatch.

In 2009, Carson Cumberbatch initiated an internal restructuring of its businesses to consolidate its plantation sector investments in both Malaysia and Indonesia under a regional holding company, Goodhope Asia Holdings.

Sri Lanka Board of Investment signs 37 new agreements totaling US$ 579 million

June 15, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Board of Investment said they entered into 37 new investment agreements during the period of April to May 2016 with a total estimated investment of US$ 579 million.

The new agreements signed during April to May that covers a range of sectors will generate 6,000 direct employments opportunities, according to the investment promotion agency.

"The newly established one stop shop has made it easy to invest in Sri Lanka by providing an effective and convenient single point of contact for investors in terms of realizing investment in Sri Lanka," the BOI said.

Following are the new agreements signed by the BOI:

Apartment Complexes

As Colombo develops further under the Megapolis program which is the blueprint of Government's development strategy the demand for apartments will correspondingly increase. Hence 9 agreements have been signed to set up new apartment complexes. Fairwar Urban Homes (Pvt) Ltd, Iconic Development (Pvt) Ltd, S T K Developers (Pvt) Ltd, Menara Residencies (Pvt) Ltd, Capital Tower (Pvt) Ltd, Elysian Reality (Pvt) Ltd, U K Lanka Developers (Pvt) Ltd, Makro Developers (Pvt) Ltd and P U W Towers will set up new housing complexes in Colombo. The estimated value of investment is US$ 230 million.

Logistics

Sri Lanka's logistics industry's contribution to national GDP is currently estimated to be around 3% and is targeted to contribute at least 10% by 2020. Sri Lanka is thriving to become the logistics hub in South Asia. Sri Lanka's sea ports and airports with increasing cargo handling capacity and the air and sea connectivity are key strengths to attract investment in this field. A total number of 4 new agreements have been signed representing investments of US $ 85 Million. These projects include a variety of services such as feeder services, marine Services, entrepot trading, off-shore businesses, front end and headquarter operations and others.

Mini Hydro Power plants

A key area of investment is in power generation as it enhances the capacity of the country. Four new agreements have been signed in April - May 2016 to set up Mini Hydropower projects in various parts of the country such as Dehiattakandiya, Demodara, Soranathota and Walapane. Vidula Biomass (Pvt) Ltd, Ino Mini Hydro Power (Pvt) Ltd, Udawela Hydro (Pvt) Ltd and Biomed Hydro Power (Pvt) Ltd have obtained BOI approval to set up Mini Hydro PowerPlant projects. The electricity generated by these Mini power Plants will be supplied to the National Grid to address the growing electricity demand in the country.

Tourism & Leisure

The new projects in tourism strengthen a sector where Sri Lanka already has a strong competitive advantage. Four new agreements were signed to set up hotel projects with an investment of US$ 69 million. Saracawatta (Pvt) Ltd, Saif Estate (Pvt) Ltd, Sofia Kandy (Pvt) Ltd and Casa De Hotel & Resorts (Pvt) Ltd have obtained BOI approvals to set up their hotels in Hikkaduwa, Bandarawela, Peradeniya and Wennappuwa respectably. These four new hotel projects will help the Government to achieve its target to build 75,000 rooms to cater to 4 million tourist arrivals by 2020.

Apparel

Two new agreements were signed to set up garments and related manufacturing projects with an investment of US $ 15 Million. A total number of 1300 direct job opportunities will be created through these two projects. EAM Maliban Textiles (Pvt) Ltd and Yyonne Lanka (Pvt) Ltd will set up to produce garments and garment accessories.

IT / BPO

Sri Lanka is gaining global recognition as a Centre for delivering IT as well as an emerging knowledge services industry. Hence new projects in Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing strengthen the local IT sector. Western Solution (Pvt) Ltd and L S E G Business Services Colombo (Pvt) Ltd will set up projects to develop software and provide Information Technology enable services and to provide Business Processing Outsourcing services for international market.

Agriculture

Two agriculture projects have obtained approvals during April - May. M/s Japan Lanka Agriculture Industrial Research & Training Centre (Pvt) Ltd will set up a project to cultivate high quality vegetables for the export market and also establish an agriculture training institute in Divulapitiya. M/s Value Plantation (Pvt) Ltd will set up a project to produce value added tea for the export market. The total estimated investment would be US$ 14 million.

Mixed Development

Three agreements were signed to set up Mixed Development projects in Colombo investing US$ 144 million. Blue Mountain Colombo (Pvt) Ltd, A O D Properties (Pvt) Ltd and M S A Shamsudeen Development (Pvt) Ltd have obtained BOI approvals in this sector.

Trading Houses

D & A Apparel Trading (Pvt) Ltd signed to set up trading house to export garments and other textile products. M/s Star Garments Group (Pvt) Ltd signed to set up an export trading house to export Sri Lankan non-traditional products and to provide with designing services. The total investment of these two projects would be US$ 7 million.

M/s Bhagya Hospital (Pvt) Ltd signed an agreement to set up and operate a hospital in Mahiyanganaya with an investment of US$ 3.8 million.

M/s Farmchem Manufacturers (Pvt) Ltd signed an agreement to set up a project to manufacture veterinary pharmaceuticals for export market. This project representingan investment of US$ 4.5 million will be located at the Industrial Zone, Homagama. Another enterprise M/s Batticaloa Campus Limited signed an agreement to set up a Higher education Institute in Batticaloa.

When these projects are realized, they will contribute very significantly to the development of the Sri Lankan economy by boosting exports, increasing foreign exchange reserves, creating new employment opportunities and transferring technology, BOI said.www.colombopage.com

Sri Lanka CDS to introduce electronic voting and IPO facility this year

(LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Depository Systems is looking forward to introduce a fully-fledged electronic IPO and voting system during this year.

During an interview, Head of CDS, Nalin Fonseka said the E-IPO system will facilitate inward and outward payments from investors efficiently and will offer other benefits such as facilitation of allotments for different categories of investors.

“The overall IPO handling process would be short cycled with the implementation of the E-IPO system,” Fonseka said.

E-Voting is another new project which is underway and has been planned to be implemented during this year.

“This system will address the problems faced by investors who are unable to attend and vote in more than one meeting held by listed companies on the same day.”

CDS is currently working on a project to upgrade the investor account opening process and the initiative will decentralize the account opening process and enable broker firms to open client accounts from their offices without sending the documents to the CDS.

The breakthrough for CDS was made in 1991 when it was established by the CSE and. 2016 marks a corporate milestone for the CDS, as it is the 25th year of operation since inception.

Full text of the interview is reproduced below.
Could you speak on the role and significance of the CDS over the years?

When first launched in 1991, CDS was the first depository in South Asia and among the first few depositories globally. We are to date the only depository for the shares of companies listed in the CSE and are licensed as a market intermediary and clearing house by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC).

It is a known fact that an efficient and dynamic depository contributes to a proficiently functioning capital market. In that regard, we have played a crucial role in the Sri Lankan capital market by minimizing risk, reducing costs, ensuring safety of investor assets and by providing value added services to investors. Over the years, we have evolved to meet the changing dynamics of the Sri Lankan capital market where we have embraced technology, built on our foreign relations and maintained focus on our stakeholders. We will continue this crucial role as the Sri Lankan capital market grows.

Can you comment on how the CDS has embraced technology to offer value to your stakeholders?

Expanding on value offered to our stakeholders by embracing innovation has continued to be a key objective of the CDS over the years.

In 2015, we launched the Settlement Schedule Digitization Solution DS3, which was an innovation entirely driven by CDS. This solution provides a mechanism to digitally sign settlement schedules using digital signatures embedded in a USB Crypto token which can be downloaded by the settlement banks through a web portal. Currently we are performing live operations through DS3 with three settlement banks.

In the perspective of our account holders, we recently launched SMS alerts and eStatements, adding a new dimension to information dissemination. The SMS alert service offers investors the ability to verify their account activities on a daily basis and this service will enhance the transparency in the order execution process of the stockbrokers. The CDS eStatement on the other hand, offers account holders the ability to access their statements at the click of a button. These endeavors encourage investors to take an active role in the management of their investment portfolios and illustrate the value technology offers in the business that we are in.

We will continue to use technology to offer value and efficiency to the various stakeholders of the CDS, including brokering firms, CDS account holders, company secretaries, registrars of listed companies and various other parties that engage with us.

Elaborate on the importance of bridging the gap between investors and the CDS using eConnect
I believe that ease of connectivity always matters when offering value to customers. Bridging the gap between investors and the CDS has long been an objective of ours, and the CDS eConnect facility will play an important role in that regard.

eConnect will take accessing of CDS account transaction details to a new level because of the accessibility through personal computers, Tablet PCs or Mobile devices. We will be able to enhance client security, offer convenience and create immediate awareness on changes to the CDS account details through this service. Especially from the perspective of the foreign investors, this would provide a platform for them to verify both their account information and portfolio information, which simplifies the process to a large extent.

You mentioned that the CDS was the first depository of South Asia. Speak about your partnerships and presence at a regional level.

Our history and credentials built over the years offers us the leverage to actively contribute in the international stage. Being an active member of the Asia-Pacific Central Securities Depository Group (ACG), which is an association of securities depositories and clearing organizations in the Asia-Pacific region is one such key partnership. On the other hand, the MOU signed with National Securities Depository (Pvt) Ltd of India (NSDL) in May 2015 is another linkage through which we hope to achieve operational benefits.

Hosting the 17th ACG Cross Training Seminar in Sri Lanka in 2015 and being recognized for our innovative approach to depositary operations at the 18th ACG Cross Training Seminar held in Ho Cho Minh City Vietnam this year, I could say, were a couple of highlights for the CDS in recent times.

One of the initiatives presented by our Head of Operations who participated at 18th ACG Conference was the e-Dividend concept which is an initiative of the e-Payment arm of the CDS. This was highly commended by the member depositories of the ACG for being an innovative product aimed at serving both foreign and local investors. Some member depositories were even so keen to study the concept further because of its potential to fast-track the current dividend payment process, making life easy for foreign investors, fund managers, and custodians.

Interaction and collaboration fostered through regional affiliations help us in ensuring that our current operational model corresponds to internationally accepted practices followed by other Asia-Pacific counterparts, which is an important part of the CSE’s bid to develop into a truly world-class exchange.

What other process improvements are you looking at?

Upon the successful implementation of the state-of-the-art depository system, CDS is currently working on a project to upgrade the investor account opening process. This initiative will decentralize the account opening process and enable broker firms to open client accounts from their offices without sending the documents to the CDS. With this de-centralization, both investors and brokering firms can enjoy more flexibility. This will also bring the CDS to be in-par with other depositories in the region.

We have also taken steps to expedite the process of opening accounts for Foreign Funds, as the CSE makes a conscious effort to increase foreign investor participation in the Sri Lankan capital market. We have worked under the guidance of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) when implementing this improvement. Foreign applicants (Funds) can now open CDS accounts within a period of two market days upon the submission of the relevant documents.

Are you looking at expanding the services offered through the CDS going forward?

As I mentioned earlier, the improvements we make in future will be strictly stakeholder focused and will be in-line with the vision of the CSE. We are looking at introducing a fully-fledged E-IPO system. This system will facilitate inward and outward payments from investors efficiently and will offer other benefits such as facilitation of allotments for different categories of investors. The overall IPO handling process would be short cycled with the implementation of the E-IPO system.

E-Voting is another new project which is underway and has been planned to be implemented during this year. This system will address the problems faced by investors who are unable to attend and vote in more than one meeting held by listed companies on the same day.

All-in-all, I believe that we are well placed to provide a full range of post trade services to meet the evolving needs of our stakeholders while maintaining a strong focus on operational efficiency. Our intention is to drive continued growth in the Sri Lankan capital market through the provision of world-class custody and settlement services.

Sri Lanka faces power shortage with coal plant delay

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka will face power shortages in two years because of delays in building a planned coal-fired power plant and consumers will be forced to pay higher electricity bills, an energy expert has warned.

The project to build a coal-fired power plant in Sampur, in eastern Trincomalee, which was first mooted two decades ago, is effectively on hold, said Tilak Siyambalapitiya, a former planning engineer at the Ceylon Electricity Board and now a consultant.

The plant, to be built as a joint venture between the CEB and National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (NTPC) of India, was urgently needed, he told a seminar on “India-Sri Lanka Relations in the 21st Century”.

No other big power planned was planned although growth in demand for electricity has picked up in the last two years as commercial sector activity grew, after having remained slow in earlier years.

“Electricity sales growth is increasing. It’s an alarming situation. One could say it is very good but suppliers get nightmares,” Siyambalapitiya told the forum organised by the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies.

The country would be forced to go for costly diesel-fired power plants to meet the anticipated shortfall as it had done in 2001 when there were similar delays in building the first coal-fired power plant.

“We can expect a government announcement by 2018 when indications of the crisis become apparent - typically (during the hot months from) February to April,” he said. “The government will say ‘we will pay the bill for diesel and customers would not be burdened’. There will be load shedding.”

The solution should be to let Sampur be the next plant as it was about to get into the construction phase and to renegotiate any unfavourable clauses in the agreement with India, Siyambalapitiya.

The government has said it wants to convert the Sampur power plant into a gas-fired one because of the availability of natural gas offshore and the environmental costs of burning coal.

Watchful Fitch hopeful

By Shehana Dain

In the backdrop of Sri Lanka successfully securing the $ 1.5 billion IMF cash support last week, Fitch Ratings yesterday told the media that the agency is closely monitoring how the economy adjusts under the IMF program and will consider a fresh review if reforms materialise.

Noting that adjustment of any sort would challenge Sovereigns Ratings, Associate Director Sagarika Chandra said that from a rating point of view the Sri Lankan Government should reverse its hasty policy making and revert to a predictable platform.

“The Government has said that they would like to raise Government revenue by raising taxes but then the question is how you grow along with that.We think from a rating stand point some of the key drivers of Sri Lanka’s ratings are really progress on the IMF program and a certain degree of predictability with policies, because in the past we have seen that predictability has been a weakness. The real challenge is meeting the IMF criterion that’s something we are still waiting to see,”she said.

Chandra highlighted that Fitch expects the IMF program to give some leverage to the policy making process, nonetheless at the same time she stressed that on the external front there are some glaring near term external financing needs. “The external liquidity condition is weak, thus the buffers are weakening in that sense. USA interests rates are going to go up we expect it to happen and carrying on to the next year. In that environment with a higher US dollar globally it’s going to be hard for countries to meet their external financing needs. In 2016 Sri Lanka’s external financing need is growing rather than shrinking, the situation looks riskier,” she added.

In March this year Fitch Ratings downgraded Sri Lanka’s sovereign credit rating to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-’ and assigned a negative outlook.

“We downgraded because we saw that the stresses in the external front were quite severe having said that, with the IMF program probably now there is some investor confidence for a certain degree but we still see that progress with respect to the IMF program will be really the key to Sri Lanka’s sovereign rating going forward,” Chandra said.

Pointing out that Fitch sees a positive outlook for Sri Lanka in the medium term however she said that no real change has taken place in the economic and policy making landscape since the downgrade. “We do reviews annually and therefore our next review will be in February 2017. Nevertheless we can do a review before that if we see that events have changed drastically. It’s a little too early given that the we haven’t seen a lot from the authorities yet to comment on the policy outlook.”

Fitch Ratings Asia Pacific Sovereign Ratings Head Andrew Colquhoun also reiterated that there have been few tweaks made by the Government that points towards a progressive position.

“It kind of has been a game in two halves actually so far. Last year from a credit and sustainability perspective we saw the calibre of quality policy making deteriorating. We also had lose monetary policy, rapid credit growth and large increase in public sector wages which substantially increased fiscal deficit. This year we have had a rise in the VAT rate and monetary tightening as well so policy has reversed course this year to a more sustainable direction which is positive.”

Additionally Corporate Ratings Group Head of Asia Pacific Andrew Steel said that the Government’s increasing interest on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) is commendable however warned that authorities are yet to realise its complexity to drive forward.

“There’s a lot of talk in Sri Lanka about PPPs to facilitate infrastructure projects. The one thing about PPP is people often talk about them very broadly and easily as a remedy for not having funding available and to bring the private sector in however it’s really complex to put in place and the risk allocation is extremely detailed. Thus investors in that type of product expect to see a lot of clarity and a lot of detail and therefore you need to fix that in the form of legislation and reform before you try to embark on that process. Otherwise you stir up a lot of interest but you won’t get too much that actually crystallizes,” he noted.
www.ft.lk

European Union completely lifts ban on import of Sri Lanka seafood

The European Union (EU) has completely lifted the ban on fisheries exports from Sri Lanka, the Government Information Department said yesterday.Sri Lanka was one of the biggest exporters to the EU of high value fishery products such as fresh and chilled swordfish, tuna and tuna-like species.

Seafood exports were severely hit by the ban and continued to decline since the announcement of the ban in October 2014. In the year 2015, Sri Lanka’s seafood exports declined 35.5% to US$ 163.1 million compared to $ 252.7 million earned in 2014. Sri Lanka’s fish exports to the EU make up 68% of its total fish exports.

Sri Lanka was the second biggest exporter of fresh and chilled swordfish and tuna to the EU with euro 74 million ($ 81 million) of imports in 2013.

Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The EU, in January 2015, imposed a ban on Sri Lanka’s fish exports to European countries, which was the major export market for Sri Lanka, as a result of engaging in Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.

The EU Commission’s recommendation to revoke was forwarded to the EU Council in April and the EU Parliament has approved it this week.

In the run-up to the EU’s decision, the Sri Lanka government took a number of steps to have the ban lifted. Rules and regulations were introduced in tune with international norms and new regulations framed for high seas fishing. A national plan was prepared to counter illegal, unreported and

Sri Lanka formally reapplies for GSP+ from EU: Harsha

​Sri Lanka has formally reapplied to obtain the GSP plus trade concession from the European Union (EU).

Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva, who is currently in London said that Sri Lanka hopes Britain, will remain in the EU as almost 40% of Sri Lanka’s exports to the EU is to the UK.

While in London Dr. Harsha de Silva addressed a group of over 200 Sri Lankan British community leaders on why the Government believes the UK should Stay in the EU.

“If UK is not a part of the EU we will lose the duty free benefit. True, if UK exits, then we could renegotiate a FTA with the UK, but they will have to do a whole series of FTAs with European nations and others before they get to us. That will certainly take a long time,” he said.

The Deputy Minister said that Sri Lanka does not need any more disruptions in the global economy adding that the challenges Sri Lanka will have to face would be easier to deal with in a more stable global environment.

“While it is up to each British person to decide, we have and will speak to ‘our community’ to let them know as a country we would like for UK to stay. However, speaking to the Sri Lankan community I got a mixed feeling; some are for UK staying and some against,” he added.
www.ft.lk

Stock market loses Rs. 28 b in value over capital gains tax concern

The Colombo stock market saw Rs. 28 billion in value wiped off as investors lost confidence with the announcement of Cabinet giving approval to the contentious capital gains tax.

Market capitalisation which was Rs. 2.77 trillion on Wednesday dipped to Rs. 2.74 trillion yesterday with the benchmark All Share Index down 1% or 65 points to close at a seven week low.

Most analysts linked yesterday’s dip to fears over return of capital gains tax. On Wednesday the Government announced plans to introduce capital gains tax though the rate or date of implementation is unknown.

Reuters also said investor sentiment also took a hit on continued foreign fund outflows and rising interest rates.

“Market is falling on low volumes with the high interest rates and the news of reintroduction of the capital gains tax,” Dimantha Mathew, head of research at First Capital Equities was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Shares in conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc and the biggest listed lender Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc lost 2% and Carson Cumberbatch Plc dropped 5.44%.

Stock market turnover stood at Rs. 325.6 million, well below this year’s daily average of around Rs. 764.8 million.

Overseas funds offloaded a net Rs. 5.84 million worth of equities on Thursday, extending the year to date net foreign outflow to Rs. 5.59 billion worth shares.

Treasury bill yields rose between 1 and 4 basis points at a weekly auction on Wednesday. They have risen between 6 and 40 basis points since the central bank left key policy rates steady for on 20 May.

The average prime lending rate edged up 24 basis points to 10.47% in the week ended 10 June. Stockbrokers have said rising interest rates could be detrimental to risk assets if they jump beyond 12%.
www.ft.lk

Citrus Hikkaduwa reopens

Citrus Hikkaduwa, recently re-opened its doors after a month’s refurbishment. Apart from the general renovation and overall maintenance, the pool was re-constructed, the beach bar and the ground floor rooms were completely refurbished and enhanced.

Janashakthi pays Rs. 4.6 billion in flood claims

Claims amounting to the value of approximately Rs. 4.6 billion were intimated to Janashakthi General Insurance Limited, with 1957 Motor claims and 461 Non Motor claims being accounted for, marking 2,418 claims in total. This is also significantly the highest number of claims recorded to date in the industry, and is a testament to Janashakthi's financial stability as well as an indication of the company's steadfast commitment to its stakeholders.

In light of the tragic devastation caused by the adverse weather conditions which resulted in floods and landslides impacting many parts of the island and its people, Janashakthi General Insurance Limited expressed its solidarity by extending all possible assistance to policy holders and those affected as a whole, in an attempt to help them rebuild their lives following the disaster.

The recent floods which devastated 22 districts is considered as one of the worst natural disasters to impact the Indian Ocean region since the 2004 tsunami. It displaced 350,000 people, destroyed 502 buildings, and caused 92 fatalities. The disaster did not discriminate targeting rural and urban families alike, and even left some families with nothing to return to after the waters subsided.

Taking the large scale damage into account, Janashakthi deployed additional teams around the island to expedite the processing and settlement of claims in a quick and efficient manner.

“The floods in May were one of the most devastating natural disasters the country has faced in recent times. Monitoring on ground developments closely, our teams were on standby to assist our policyholders and the affected communities at large. We rose to the cause swiftly by expediting the processing of intimated claims in a rapid and efficient manner. As an Insurance provider that promises protection and a safety net to our customers in the event of unforeseen circumstances, we understand that it is our duty to offer peace of mind and a solid footing to enable them to resume their lives. We sincerely empathise with the plight of those affected, and assure that we will continue in our efforts to deliver a quick and efficient service to those in need,” said Prakash Schaffter, Managing Director of Janashakthi General Insurance Limited.

Going beyond the settlement of claims, Janashakthi additionally provided vehicle breakdown assistance to all those affected by the floods, by towing their vehicles free of charge to the nearest garage, and offering advice on protecting vehicles from further damage, irrespective of whether they were Janashakthi insured or not.

True to its ethos of working together as a united Janashakthi family, the company also extended all necessary assistance to members of staff who were affected. Teams of Janashakthi volunteers also rallied together to reach out to the communities they operate in, by distributing relief material to those affected.

Rising to the aid of the local community during times of disaster has been part of Janashakthi's DNA throughout its journey in Sri Lanka. The company even stepped forward during the 2004 tsunami to assist the nation and its people recover from what was a tragic and unforeseen blow to the community at large. This too, was a period in which Janashakthi recorded the highest number of claims. The company pledges its commitment to continue in its efforts to support its customers and the community to resume their lives following this national calamity.

www.dailynews.lk

Sampath Bank’s Rs 6 bn debenture oversubscribed

Sampath Bank’s Rs.6 bn subordinated debenture issue was successfully oversubscribed on the opening day in a strong expression of investor confidence. Applications over the value of Rs.6 billion was received, exceeding the initial 40 million debentures plus the additional 20 million debentures on offer. The issue was closed on the opening date itself. (6 June 6,2016).

A Sampath Bank spokesman said “We are pleased with the overwhelming response for this debenture issue as it highlights the positive investor confidence in our Bank”

The issue drew investors from a large cross section of investors ranging from retail investors to Corporates, Pension and Trust Funds and Insurance Funds to name a few.

Funds raised via this debenture will be utilized to strengthen the bank’s Tier II Capital and finance the asset growth of the Bank.
www.dailynews.lk