Asia Capital, Japan’s Belluna embark on USD 54Mn venture

(LBO) – Japanese firm Belluna Co. Ltd and Asia Capital PLC celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony of their joint venture on a US 54 million dollar, four-star hotel project in Colombo’s Marine Drive, Tuesday.

“Belluna Co.’s off-shore expansion focuses strongly on emerging markets and we are pleased to be a part of Sri Lanka’s development drive,’ said Hiroshi Yasuno, managing director of Belluna Co. Ltd.

“Our partnership with Asia Capital PLC at present encompasses five different projects. With Sri Lanka’s tourism and real estate sectors growing exponentially, we foresee many more such high value investments in the years ahead.”

The 300 room, four-star business hotel on Marine Drive will offer guests a choice of deluxe and superior rooms, as well as spacious suites with features such as panoramic views of the Indian Ocean and of Colombo’s city skyline.

“The prime location of the hotel is ideal for the new-age business traveller who seeks convenient access to Colombo’s Central Business District, coupled with the contemporary comforts of superior design and amenities,” Stefan Abeyesinhe, group chief executive officer/ director of Asia Capital said.

“As business and leisure converge increasing, guests will find the location of the hotel a brief stroll away from the city’s vibrant restaurants, shopping areas, sight-seeing and more.”

In addition to this 300 room hotel, Belluna Co. Ltd, Japan and Asia Capital PLC have thus far collaborated on a series of luxury development projects in Sri Lanka and beyond.

These projects includes a 50 villa ultra-luxurious resort in Galle, for which the foundation stone was laid in October 2016; the ‘447 Luna Tower’ project – a 190 unit exclusive apartment complex being built in the heart of the city at Union Place and a further multi-development project in Colombo which is in the planning stages.

Beyond the shores of Sri Lanka, Belluna Co. and Asia Capital are currently in partnership with the leading global hospitality company, Marriot International, Inc. and will open the ‘The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort’, a 70-key luxury property focusing on wellness tourism in the near future.

Among those present at the event were chief guest Minister of special assignments, Dr. Sarath Amunugama, the Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Kenichi Suganuma.

Sri Lanka's Overseas Realty profits up on forex gains, fair value

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's Overseas Realty Ceylon Plc, owners of the Echelon Towers building in the capital Colombo, said profits rose 21 percent to 881 million rupees in the March 2017 quarter from a year earlier.

The group's rental income went up 6 percent to 503 million rupees, and direct operating expenses rose 6 percent to 571 million rupees in the quarter.

Of the profits, 316 million rupees were from fair value gains. The firm also reported 315 million rupees of fair value gains last year.

Profits were boosted by a forex gain of 139 million rupees, sharply up from half a million rupees a year earlier.

The firm reported profits of 46 cents per share without fair value gains and 72 cents with fair value gains.

The stock closed at 20.30 rupees on Monday.

Sri Lanka to sell US$3.0bn in dollar bonds

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka has raised a limit on selling dollar denominated Sri Lanka Development Bonds to 3.0 billion in 2017, the government said.

The cabinet of ministers had approved a proposal to more dollar debt, by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake.

The move was due to 'low liquidity' in Treasury bills and bonds, a statement said.

Dollar denominated SLDB's are sold to mainly to domestic investors who are permitted to have foreign currency accounts, including banks and exporters.

Sri Lanka Treasuries yields drop

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's Treasuries yields dropped at Wednesday's auction with the 12-month yield falling 09 basis points to 11.02 percent, data from the debt office showed.

The 6-month yield dropped 09 basis points to 10.70 percent.

All bids for 3-month bills were rejected.

The debt office sold 14.5 billion rupees of 6-month bills and 15.0 billion in 12 month bills.

Sri Lankan shares end higher as foreign investors pick blue chips

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares closed higher on Wednesday after two straight sessions of losses as foreign investors actively bought into blue chips, with the net stock buys touching nearly 15 billion rupees so far in the year.

Foreign investors bought shares for a 24th straight session, buying a net 318.6 million rupees ($2.10 million) worth of stocks on Wednesday.

They have snapped up a net 12.4 billion rupees worth equities during the period and a net 14.9 billion rupees worth year-to-date.

The Colombo stock index ended 0.36 percent firmer at 6,516.26.

The index has climbed 9.1 percent in the 19 sessions through Wednesday, having risen for 16 sessions in that period.

It added 2.1 percent last week, marking its fourth week of gains.

"Foreigners are very active and buying aggressively, while local investors are cautiously waiting to buy," said Dimantha Mathew, head of research, First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd.

Turnover stood at 1.44 billion rupees, higher than this year's daily average of 882 million rupees.

Market heavyweight John Keells Holdings gained 1.1 percent, while Ceylon Tobacco Company rose 0.6 percent.

($1 = 151.9000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)