Sri Lankan shares rise; post 8th straight weekly gain

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares ended higher on Friday, posting the eighth straight gain on week and hitting their highest closing level in more than 16 months, led by blue chips such as John Keells Holdings Plc.

The Colombo stock index ended 0.47 percent firmer at 6,729.66, its highest close since Jan. 7, 2016.

It rose 0.83 percent during the week, and has climbed 11 percent since March 31.

Turnover stood at 618.02 million rupees ($4.06 million), less than this year's daily average of 893.4 million rupees.

"The market is up on significant buying interest in John Keells. There was some buying interest in some finance companies too," said Dimantha Mathew, head of research, First Capital Holdings PLC.

"We expect profit-taking next week as the market needs some breather."

Foreign investors net bought shares worth 728,954 rupees, extending the year-to-date net foreign inflows to 18.02 billion rupees.

Shares in Nanda Investment Plc rose 24.89 percent to hit a record closing high, while conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc climbed 1.51 percent and Browns Investment Plc was up 15.79 percent. 

($1 = 152.3000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)

CCS to invest Rs6.3bn in new ice cream factory, bottling facility

(LBO) – Ceylon Cold Stores said it is enhancing capacity with investments of 3.8 billion rupees in a new ice cream factory and 2.5 billion rupees in a new bottling facility for beverages.

Chairman of CCS, Susantha Ratnayake, delivering a note in the 2016/17 annual report, said the company will continue to pro-actively cater to changing consumer needs and lifestyles, creating value for customers.

Ratnayake said their fully owned subsidiary Jaykay Marketing Services Limited will also continue to rapidly expand its outlet footprint whilst constructing a new distribution centre at an estimated investment of 3.2 billion rupees.

“The new distribution centre will consolidate both dry and fresh produce, enabling the business to further improve its offering to our customers, achieve significant scale benefits as well as deliver operational excellence,” he said.

Ratnayake said the construction of the integrated resort “Cinnamon Life” by their associate company Waterfront Properties Private Ltd is progressing with pre-sales of both the residential and commercial space continuing to be encouraging.

In the twelve months to March, net profits at Ceylon Cold Stores rose 24 percent to 3.5 billion rupees reporting 37.38 rupees per share as basic earnings.

However, profits fell 15 percent to 824 million rupees in the March 2017 quarter from a year earlier, interim accounts showed.

“Despite the moderation in the growth rate of consumer discretionary spending in the last quarter we remain confident,” Ratnayake said.

“Evolving product range and the efficacy of our distributor network which ensures availability of our soft drinks and ice creams will continue to drive top line growth, supported by the contribution from the rapid growth in our conforming store model.”