Pacific Textured Jersey Holdings divests 10% of TJL

Textured Jersey Lanka PLC has announced, further to the disclosure made on 29th June 2015 that, Pacific Textured Jersey Holdings Limited (Pacific) divested a total of 66,075,247 shares in Textured Jersey Lanka PLC (TJL) amounting to 10% of the total issued shares of TJL at a price of Rs 26.80 per share. From and out of the said 66,075,247 of shares divested by Pacific, 75% has been acquired by foreign institutional investors and the balance 25% by local investors.

We hereby also announce, further to the discloser made on 26th May 2015 with regard to the decision of the Board of Directors of TJL to acquire Quenby Lanka Prints (Private) Limited (Quenby Lanka) that TJL has concluded the acquisition of Quenby Lanka subsequent to the completion of all regulatory requirements and formalities. Under the concluded transaction, TJI acquired the entirely of the shares issued in Quenby Lanka for a total consideration of USD 3.5 million. Accordingly, Quenby Lanka is a wholly owned subsidiary of TJL with effect from 1st June 2015.

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Colombo City Centre to begin construction

Colombo City Centre,is a 47 storey 1,000,000 sq.ft mixed lifestyle centre that combines a 210,000 sq.ft retail mall, a 196 roomed NEXT Hotel and 178 Residential Apartments at Sir James Pieris Mawatha, Colombo 2.

Piling for the building has already been completed by San Piling (Pvt) Ltd, and construction is expected to begin shortly, with the main contractor targeted to be appointed in August.

The project is being developed by Colombo City Centre Partners (Pvt) Ltd, a joint venture between Abans Sri Lanka and SilverNeedle Hospitality, Singapore, founded by the Investment firm Nadathur Group, owned by Nadathur S. Raghavan, co-founder of Infosys Technologies.

This collaboration between Abans, as a reputed Sri Lankan conglomerate, and Silver Needle Hospitality has established a connection between local and international partners which provides a level of comfort for investors.

Nearly 70% bookings have been received for the apartments and deposits continue to be received for these bookings with the smaller two bed room apartments practically sold out shortly after launch, attesting to the confidence investors have placed in the project and its developers.

There has also been a good demand for the three bedroom units both of which face the Beira Lake and the ocean beyond.

Colombo City Centre Partners (Pvt) Ltd is also pleased to advise that it has received approval for a financing package through a consortium led by Bank Of Ceylon supported by Peoples' Bank and Hatton National Bank.

Spanning from basement to the third floor, the five storey lifestyle retail mall will be on par with malls in Dubai and Singapore where Sri Lankans have much shopping experience.

The mall will feature Cinemas, Supermarket, a Food Court with both local and international cuisine, Games and recreational activities, and for the first time in Sri Lanka, will offer an enjoyable experience for the entire family.

Already retail planning and securing of tenants is in process and this is being handled by Hong Kong based HUSBAND Retail Consulting who in fact are at the final stages of securing an anchor tenant for the Mall.

Prospective operators of the Cinema facilities have also already made presentations. Above the Mall will be the car parks with separately demarcated area for the apartments, the Mall and the Hotel.

Floors up to the 19th floor will be the NEXT Hotel, the flagship brand of SilverNeedle hospitality who recently launched a Hotel in Brisbane, Australia in October 2014. NEXT Hotel will cater mainly to the professional and leisure needs of the business traveler and will be equipped with Modern Technology including 'keyless' entry to the rooms through mobile phones.

Floors 20 to 47 will be the Residences at Colombo City Centre, consisting of 2, 3, 4, and 5 bedroom units of sizes varying from 973 sq. to 4898 sq. and prices ranging from USD 330,000 to USD 2 million.

With the Residence Floors commencing at a high level due to the Mall and the Hotel below, residents will be guaranteed panoramic views of the city and the coastline. While enjoying the sea view, residents will not be directly subject to the damaging effects of sea breeze as the building is located at a distance from the coastline.

All building regulations have been conformed to, including the most currently relevant aspect of earthquake resistance. Further, investors can expect good capital appreciation and rental return. They will also receive freehold title to their apartments.

Life at Colombo City Centre Apartments.

The residents will be able to enjoy every convenience- from super markets to entertainment, fine dining to international and local branded shopping to extra accommodation for guests at the Hotel all under one house, yet with separate entrances, separate lifts and separately demarcated parking spaces.

With a total of only 178 apartments, renting and re-sale will be easier for the investor, and Colombo City Centre has a good mix of apartments, particularly 2 bedroomed units, in 5 sizes, which will cater to a wider spectrum of investors. The sizes of the apartments have the added benefit of making the total price affordable.

The residents will also be offered exclusive facilities including swimming pool, state-of-the-art gym, sauna, barbecue area, children's play area and a sky lounge on the 43rd floor.

Due to the encouraging response we received on apartment sales we decided not to construct a full show suite as planned on a site adjacent to the Colombo City Centre but are in the process of completing show suite finishes within two apartments at the JAIC Hilton which will be completed shortly so that customers may experience the superior and above current market finishes we have included in our design for their benefit. A team of internationally acclaimed partners at work at CCC.

The development also boasts of other internationally renowned partners who have come together to make the project a success. The lead designer of the project is AEDAS, an award winning global architectural firm. With over 1000 architects, it is the largest architectural practice in Hong Kong and specializes in architecture, interior design, master planning, landscape, urban designing and building consultancy within Asia, Middle East, Europe and America.

The world's largest collaborative design firm, Gensler, with over 4000 professionals across 46 countries will be in charge of the interior of the hotel and residencies,
www.dailynews.lk

People’s Leasing buys more PMF

People’s Leasing and Finance and People’s Bank (joint offerors) have acquired a total of 6,461,543 ordinary shares at a price of Rs. 22.00 per share representing 9.57%  of the voting rights in People’s Merchant Finance PLC (PMF).

Consequent to the aforesaid purchase of ordinary voting shares, the Joint Offerrors own 32,921,519 voting shares (48.77%) of PMF and as a result the Joint Offerors will be making a Mandatory Offer to the remaining shareholders of PMF.

In compliance with the provisions of the code, People’s Leasing and Finance and People’s Bank will make a detailed announcement on the proposed offer shortly.
www.dailynews.lk

Sri Lanka shares near 11-week low

Sri Lankan shares fell on Monday to a near-11-week low hit last week led by large-cap shares such as Nestle Lanka Plc and Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc on political uncertainty ahead of parliamentary elections.

The main stock index ended 0.25 percent weaker at 6,989.41, hovering near its lowest close since April 15 hit on Thursday.

The day's turnover was 453.5 million rupees ($3.40 million), well below this year's daily average of 1.07 billion rupees.

Shares in Nestle Lanka Plc fell 3.06 percent while Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc fell 0.52 percent, dragging the overall index.

President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved parliament on June 26 and scheduled elections for Aug. 17, in an effort to consolidate power and push through political reforms.

The market saw a net foreign outflow of 88.5 million rupees on Monday, extending the net outflow for the past 28 sessions to 4.7 billion rupees.

However, foreign investors are net buyers of 1.25 billion rupees worth of shares so far this year. 

($1 = 133.5000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sunil Nair)

SEC ordered by court to submit share transaction report of Dilith Jayaweera, Nalaka Godahewa

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court has directed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to submit a detailed report on share transactions of Dilith Jayaweera, former SEC chief Nalaka Godahewa, Varuni Amunugama and Sarvajana Anandaraj Ameresekere since 2008.

The Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris made this order in response to a request by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) when the case on alleged irregularities in Lanka Hospitals share transactions was taken up for hearing this week.

The FCID is carrying out investigations into a number of irregularities that had taken place at the CSE during the recent past, including insider trading and market manipulation. These irregularities are alleged to have taken place between 2009 and 2014 at Lanka Hospitals Corporation Plc under the chairmanship of former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The case was based on a complaint lodged by Dr. Neomal Alexander Perera, a cancer specialist attached to Lanka Hospitals.

The complainant alleged that Rajapaksa took control of the affairs of the hospital and was responsible for a financial fraud amounting to Rs.600 million that took place after artificially manipulating the price of Lanka Hospital shares in the stock market.

According to the complainant, a fraud of Rs. 350 million had taken place when the hospital set up the LHD Diagnostics Laboratory and that several irregularities had occurred during the purchase of two houses by Lanka Hospitals which did not follow a proper tender procedure. The court has further ordered a full disclosure of bank account details of Mr. Jayaweera, Dr. Godahewa, Ms. Amunugama and Mr. Ameresekere.The FCID revealed to court that the bank accounts of these individuals at Bank of Ceylon, Nations Trust Bank and several other banks have been already examined.

The Additional Magistrate directed that the names used by the individuals in question, during the transaction and all other related material be submitted to court through a report. The respective banks have been ordered to submit to court, bank statements of the four individuals – between January 2011 and June 30, 2011.
www.sundaytimes.lk

CIFL depositors present Rs. 3.5 bln bailout plan

By Quintus Perera

Depositors of the failed Central Investment and Finance Ltd have submitted a proposal to the Central Bank (CB) to revive the company under a Rs. 3.5 billion bailout package. W. Gunawardene, President of the CIFL Depositors Association (CIFLDA) told the Business Times that the money would be obtained from state banks as a long term loan against the recoverable assets of CIFL based on the KPMG Audit.

The proposal came amidst accusations that the CB was slow in finding a quick solution to revive this crisis-ridden finance company. Mr. Gunawardene said the CB had compelled them to withdraw their Supreme Court Case on the promise that the banking regulator would find investors to revive the CIFL but the CB has been silent on the matter so far.

He said that they had a discussion with CB officials headed by Ms K.M.A.N. Daulagala, Director, Supervision of Non-Banking Financial Institutions, on June 17 on the matters related to the misappropriation of public funds and money laundering of CIFL based on the ‘B’ Report submitted by the CID on a complaint made by the CB. He said their proposal was not taken up at the CB Monetary Board meeting on June 25 but would be taken up at its next meeting on July 10.
www.sundaytimes.lk

Sri Lanka tourist arrivals up 12-pct in June

COLOMBO (EconomyNext) - Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals rose 12 percent to 115,467 in June 2015 from a year earlier driven by rapid growth from the main markets of China and India, data from the state tourist promotion agency showed.

In the year to June, the total number of visitors were up 14.1 percent to 830,051 from the year before.

Arrivals from South Asia have been growing rapidly, largely owing to Indian visitors, and were up 19.5 percent to 36,972 in June 2015.

Arrivals from East Asia also grew by over 19 percent to 26,217 in June, mainly driven by visitors from China, Hong Kong and Macau.

The traditional Western European market remained the largest source of visitors in the six months to June 2015, up almost 15 percent to 256,567 from the year before.

The UK, Germany and France were the main source of tourists.

Arrivals from Eastern Europe are down 11.4 percent to 76,708 in the year to June 2015 but are recovering with Russia growing 7.8 percent in June and Ukraine up 17.4 percent.