Sri Lankan shares fall for 4th straight week, end below 6,500

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares fell to a more than three-and-a-half month low and breached the psychological level of 6,500 points on Friday, dragged down by diversified and beverage shares.

The market has ended lower in 10 out of the last 11 sessions through Friday, even as yields on short-term government securities fell over the past two weeks.

The Colombo stock index fell 0.36 percent, or 23.63 points, to 6,492.69, its lowest close since April 19. The bourse fell 1.2 percent for the week, its fourth straight weekly fall.

"Market is coming down and there is very little foreign activity," said Hussain Gani, deputy CEO at Softlogic Stockbrokers.

"With the market dipping, investors are waiting for some direction."

Foreign investors net bought shares worth 4.9 million rupees (about $32,026) on Friday, extending their year-to-date net inflow to 26.7 billion rupees.

Turnover stood at 396 million rupees, less than half of this year's daily average of around 877.3 million rupees.

Shares of Hemas Holdings Plc fell 3.5 percent, while Ceylinco Insurance Plc dropped 5 percent. Colombo Cold Stores Plc ended 1.5 percent weaker, Sampath Bank Plc ended 1.4 percent down and conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc fell 0.5 percent.

Analysts expect equities to reverse the downtrend, helped by a fall in government bond yields.

Short-term treasury-bond yields fell between 10 basis points (bps) and 16 bps at a weekly auction on Wednesday, while the yields on a 59-month bond dropped by 99 bps and that on a 118-month bond fell by 78 bps at the last week auction.

($1 = 153.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Vyas Mohan)

CDS relocates operations to Rajagiriya to support expansion

(LBO) – To support expansion planned for the Colombo Stock Exchange, the Central Depository System (Pvt) Ltd (CDS), has relocated its operations to a larger premises located in Rajagiriya.

The CDS, a fully owned subsidiary of the Colombo Stock Exchange, is now located at on the Ground Floor of the M & M Centre, No.341/5, Kotte Road, Rajagiriya.

“While the new address will be used for correspondence, all other details including the Company’s website (www.cds.lk), telephone number (+94 11 2356456) and fax number (+94 11 2440396) remain unchanged. The change of address will not have an impact on any policies or procedures presently maintained by the CDS,” the CSE said.

The expansion drive is focused on pursuing a new phase of innovation by the CDS and aims to surpass the initial objectives of streamlining the clearing and settlement of transactions taking place on the CSE and safekeeping of securities on behalf of domestic and international investors.

Through the expansion, the CDS intends to enhance the services offered to all stakeholders and to encourage investors to take an active role in the management of their investment portfolios. The relocation is set to support the CDS to further strengthen its depository infrastructure and to diversify operations into selective value-added business ventures.

A number of technology driven value added services including a range of online services for CDS account holders through the CDS e-connect portal, SMS alerts and eStatements have already been introduced.

Sri Lanka’s Melstacorp June quarter net down 41-pct

(LBO) – Profits at Melstacorp, the holding company of Sri Lanka’s largest hard alcohol maker Distilleries Corporation, fell 41 percent to 1.1 billion rupees from a year ago in the June quarter, interim accounts showed.

The diversified group, which has interests in beverages, plantations, telecommunications and financial services, has reported basic earnings of 98 cents per share for the quarter compared to 1.65 cents per share posted a year ago.

Net revenues grew 10 percent to 10.3 billion rupees in the quarter from a year earlier, while sales costs rose at a faster 37.7 percent to 7.5 billion rupees with gross profits up 29.6 percent to 2.7 billion rupees.

Finance income rose 283 percent to 389 million rupees while finance costs rose 81 percent to 429 million rupees.

In segmental analysis, profits in the beverages segment fell 54 percent to 1.3 billion rupees in the quarter from a year ago.

Profits at diversified segment rose 180 percent to 406 million rupees in the quarter.

Melstacorp invested 20 billion rupees in equity of Distilleries Corporation with effect from January 2017 and Distilleries Corporation used these funds to settle their liabilities against Melstacorp.

Singer Group revenue crosses Rs 25 bn at half year

Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC results for the six months ending June 30, 2017 showed a good revenue growth of 13.6% to Rs 25.1 billion compared to the same period in the previous year.

There was a strong growth in several product categories such as smart phones that grew by 46%, bottle coolers and deep freezers by 32%, televisions by 22% and furniture by 14%.

This is a commendable growth in view of increased Value Added Tax (VAT), higher interest rates and currency devaluation affecting customer purchasing power.

The continuous drought in the dry zone and floods in the wet zone hugely affected households in Sri Lanka, 30% of which are dependent on agriculture.

When customer income increases, the demand for consumer durables is above that of the general market demand and when customer income decreases the demand for consumer durables is below that of general market demand.

Due to slack market conditions, Singer’s gross margins were reduced to 29% compared to 31% in the previous year. Increased mix of smart phone sales with lower margins also impacted the overall group gross margin.

The group was successful in lowering selling and administration expenses from 22.3% last year to 21.3% in the current year. As a result, operating profit had a marginal increase.

Net Finance Cost for the half year increased by 45% to Rs. 956 million largely due to increase in interest rates.

As a result, Group Net Profit was Rs. 666.5 million, a reduction of 27% compared to the previous year. In the case of the Company, Net Profit was Rs. 525.5 million, a decrease of 26%.

Commenting on the Half Year results of 2017, Asoka Pieris, Group CEO stated, “We are anticipating gradual improvements in the business conditions during the remainder of 2017 and are pursuing strategies to improve margins and lower the costs.”

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Sri Lanka IOC unit in the red in June 2017 quarter

ECONOMYNEXT - Lanka IOC, a unit of Indian Oil Corporation, reported losses of 135 million rupees in the June 2017 quarter, down from profits of 1.9 billion rupees, amid higher oil prices and price controls.

The firm reported losses of 26 cents per share.

The loss, however, has narrowed from 652 million rupees (797 million rupees pre-tax) in the March quarter.

Revenues rose to 20.4 billion rupees in the June quarter from 18.9 billion rupees, but costs rose sharply to 19.8 billion rupees from 3.2 billion rupees.

Operating profits fell to 277 million rupees from 2.26 billion rupees.

Oil prices started to rise from the second month of 2016, and Sri Lanka still controls prices. However, taxes are sometimes adjusted to help oil distributors. Under a deal wtih the International Monetary Fund, market repricing is expected next year.

Lanka IOC is the country's second-largest fuel distributor after state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.

LIOC also has revenues from other areas like lubricants.

Printcare to invest Rs.750mn in state-of-the-art label printing technology

Top packaging exporter and pioneer in Sri Lanka’s tea packaging sector, Printcare PLC, is to invest Rs.750 million in new label printing technology hitherto unavailable in Sri Lanka, the company said.

“We have a history of innovation and a track record of introducing new technologies. These investments follow our rich history of knowing where the curve is going and staying ahead of it,” Printcare PLC General Manager Krishna Ravindran said.

With only limited technology of this nature in Asia, Printcare’s new Gallus RCS equipment is set to redefine the local label printing capabilities enabling maximum flexibility in the selection of printing methods and an exceptionally high level of automation.

“In today’s world of intense competition, brand owners crave innovation and will grab it when it becomes available. We have known our customers to be extremely progressive and they are anxious to keep pace with the rest of the world. Our goal is to facilitate this move.” Ravindran noted.

He explained how the tea bag industry showcased higher growth in the 1980s after Printcare made superior packaging available to it. Prior to the advent of Printcare, there were hardly 10 tea bag machines in the country and they were importing all their material. Today there are well over 500 and Sri Lanka is the largest tea bag producing country in the world. 

Also, the company’s introduction of high-value box making and embellished cartons recently has produced similar results, enabling our tea boxes to be showcased with the best overseas. Implicit in Printcare’s ambition is to help develop the label market, to help customers’ present superior and sophisticated product packaging, attractively positioned on supermarket shelves.

“The current generation of label presses in Sri Lanka is basic. Our new hybrid machinery, the first of its kind in the country, will have the ability to use multiple printing processes and finishes in one pass, exhibiting the differentiation on the shelf our customers seek through a visual advantage,” explained Ravindran. Printcare understands that product labels are a key form of marketing for a brand on the store shelf and the vibrancy and detail offered by the new equipment will truly make it (labels) stand out.
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Sri Lanka’s Expolanka June net up 12-pct, margins under pressure

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka’s Expolanka Holdings said June 2017 quarter net profit rose 12 percent to 204 million rupees from a year ago, but that its margins were under pressure.

The firm's quarterly earnings per share, now controlled by Japan’s SG Holdings, rose to 10 cents from 09 cents over the period.

The group's June quarter sales were up 6 pecent to 15.9 billion rupees, according to interim accounts filed with the stock exchange.

Profits in the group’s main logistics business fell despite growth in sales, largely owing to pressure on margins, while that of the leisure business grew.

“Maintaining margins remain a constant challenge as pressure on yields remain,” said Expolanka Group Chief ExecutiveHanif Yusoof.

Sri Lanka's Dialog net up 2.5-pct in June

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's Dialog Axiata Plc said net profits rose 2.5 percent to 2.34 billion rupees in the June 2017 quarter from a year earlier, with a depreciating rupee adding to costs.

The group reported earnings of 29 cents for the quarter in interim accounts filed with the stock exchange.

For the six months to June, profits fell from 4.9 billion rupees to 3.92 billion rupees, with rupee depreciation hitting the group harder in the first quarter.

The Sri Lanka rupee fell 2.5 percent against the US dollar in the first quarter and 0.9 percent in the second quarter, the firm said.

Revenues rose 9.2 percent to 23.0 billion rupees in the June quarter from a year earlier, costs also rose 9.6 percent to 12.1 billion rupees and gross profits rose 8.75 percent to 10.89 billion rupees.

There was 4 percent revenue growth quarter-on-quarter and 7 percent growth year-to-date the firm said, despite economic activities being disrupted by floods. Dialog had provided 80 million rupees worth of flood aid and free services.

The core mobile firm brought 19 billion rupees for the six months from 12.4 million subscribers, with revenues up 4 percent.

Higher consumption taxes hurt revenue growth, the firm said. The group had provided 19.1 billion rupees in taxes to the government, with 5.7 billion rupees in direct taxes and levies, and 13.4 billion rupees in indirect taxes collected on behalf of the state. This worked out to about 42.2 percent of net revenues earned by the group.

Dialog TV had reached 910,000 subscribers by June 2017, revenues grew 1 percent quarter-on-quarter but was down 4 percent year-to-date to 3.0 billion rupees. Rupee depreciation had hurt forex-denominated input costs.

Net loss for the six months to June was 528 million rupees, up from 228 million rupees last year.

Dialog Broadband Networks increased year-to-date revenues 36 percent to 5.9 billion rupees, and net profits of 331 million rupees for the June quarter and 568 million for the first half compared to a loss of 40 million rupees last year.

Sri Lanka 03 month Treasury Bill yield down to 8.87-pct

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lankan Treasury Bill yields fell across maturities at an auction Wednesday with the 03-month bill yield plunging 16 basis points to 8.87 percent from 9.03 percent last week, the Central Bank said.

The 06-month Treasury Bill yield fell 14 basis points 9.02 percent at the auction from 9.16 percent last week, its public debt department said in a statement.

The 01-year bill yield fell 10 basis points to 9.38 percent from 9.48 percent last week.

The public debt department got Rs107 billion worth of bids and accepted bids worth Rs29.8 billion.

Sri Lanka Hayleys makes Rs150mn loss in June quarter

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Hayleys group slipped into a loss of Rs150 million in the June 2017 quarter with its gloves and purification businesses hit by higher raw material costs and agriculture by bad weather.

Sales of the group, which made a profit of Rs356 million in the June quarter of the previous year, rose 21% to Rs29 billion, according to interim accounts filed with the stock exchange.

Hayleys reported a loss per share of Rs2 in the June quarter. The Hayleys share last traded at Rs294.

“We remain confident that group profits will rebound over the coming quarters as multiple strategic investments made over the recent past generate returns and contribute positively towards profitability,” Hayleys Chairman and Chief Executive Mohan Pandithage said in a statement.

Profit has also been impacted by an increase in net finance cost, which rose by 37% to Rs. 875.6 million in 1Q18 from the previous year.

This was mainly due to the increase in market rates and the higher level of investment from the group into key business segments with a view to enhancing growth potential over the medium to long term, the statement said.

The accounts showed a sharp fall in profits from gloves manufacturing along with a dip in earnings at its purification business.

The group’s textiles business profits were also down along with that from construction materials and agriculture.

However, the group’s transportation and logistics sector, its biggest business, reported a sharp increase in profits while plantations returned to profit from a loss the year before on the back of stronger tea prices at the Colombo tea auction.

Hayleys hotels business made a loss. Although the leisure sector was able to maintain relatively stable revenues, its ability to generate profits was hampered due to the substantial refurbishments being carried out at Kudarah Island Resort in Maldives, a statement said.

“The segment completed the quarter with an operating loss of Rs. 106.9 million. However, with refurbishments having since been completed just prior to the end of 1Q18, the group anticipates significant improvements in profitability moving forward.”

Hayleys group power and energy business profits were up slightly.

“Following the completion of one of Sri Lanka’s largest solar power plants in Welikande, the group’s power and energy sector recorded notable improvements in top and bottom line performance, generating Rs. 404.9 million in revenue, while operating profits within the segment rose to Rs. 229.5 million,” the statement said.

Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence June quarter net profit up 42-pct

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence said June 2017 quarter net profit grew 42 per cent to Rs355 million from a year ago, helped by strong gains from its power plant while maritime business earnings fell and hotels losses widened.

Group sales increased by 54 per cent to Rs11.6 billion, according to interim results filed with the stock exchange.

Earnings per share for the quarter grew to Rs0.87, up 42 per cent over the corresponding period in the previous year. Aitken Spence’s share last traded at Rs62.50.

The accounts showed earnings from its strategic investment sector, under which comes power, tripled during the period.

“Our maritime and logistics, strategic investments and services sectors contributed well to the performance of the group,” said J M S Brito, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Aitken Spence.

“In the tourism sector, the travels segment did well, while the hotels segment showed mixed results. The Maldives hotels improved on the last year’s performance in the first quarter, and we expect the growth momentum to continue.

“Our hotels in Sri Lanka had a challenging year despite strong performances from our flagship properties, Heritance Kandalama and Heritance Tea Factory,” said Brito.

“The resumption of full operations of its power plant in Embilipitiya, and the consolidation of RIU Sri Lanka hotel as a subsidiary with effect from the third quarter of the last financial year boosted the Group’s revenue.”

The 500-room RIU Sri Lanka located in Ahungalla is partnership between Aitken Spence and RIU Hotels & Resorts.

A subsidiary company of Aitken Spence launched a 10 MW waste-to-energy plant at Muthurajawela which will be operational in two years.

The plant will use waste generated from the Colombo municipal limits, utilizing moving grate incinerator technology, said Brito.

Sri Lanka's Access Engineering net up 13-pct

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's Access Engineering Plc said profits rose 13.2 percent to 593 million rupees in the June 2017 quarter from a year earlier, amid higher interest costs and lower taxes.

The group reported earnings of 59 cents per share for the quarter. The stock closed at 26.60 rupees, down 10 cents, on Wednesday.

Revenues for the quarter rose 13 percent to 5.25 billion rupees, costs rose at a faster 14.8 percent to 4.0 billion rupees and gross profit grew at a slower 7.2 percent to 1.18 billion rupees. Finance costs rose to 51 million rupees from 11 million rupees.

Income tax fell to 152 million rupees from 228 million rupees, helping the bottom line. Construction firms that were taxed at 12 percent are due to be taxed at 28 percent from next year.