Colombo Stock Exchange Market Review – 30th Nov 2016

(Click here)

Colombo Stock Exchange Trade Summary 30-Nov-2016

Colombo Bourse witnessed a slightly positive tone today and the indices closed in the green territory after three consecutive days of losses. ASI closed 9.23 index points (+0.2%) ahead at 6,241.10 while the blue-chip S&P SL 20 index inclined 10.20 index points (+0.3%) to 3,467.10.

Among the blue-chips, John Keells Holdings (LKR 148.30,+2.6%), Dialog Axiata (LKR 10.40,+3.0%), Lion Brewery (LKR 469.30, +4.1%) led the gainers while Ceylon Cold Stores (LKR 772.10,-3.9%) and LOLC (LKR 73.30, -7.6%) were among the losers. Market breadth remained equally divided with gainers modestly ahead of losers at 71 to 69.

Market turnover reached LKR 580mn supported by the activities in John Keells Holdings (LKR 117mn), Chevron Lubricants (LKR 97mn) and Ceylon Tobacco (LKR 85mn). The crossings in Chevron Lubricants (0.4mn shares at LKR 158.50) and CT Holdings (0.2mn at LKR 120.00) contributed 14% of the turnover.

Commercial Credit (LKR 59.90, +4.9%), John Keells Holdings and Access Engineering (LKR 24.30, +0.8%) were among the actively traded counters in todays’ session.

Foreign investors were net buyers with net foreign inflow of LKR 48mn. Foreign participation was 45%. Top net inflows were seen in Ceylon Tobacco (LKR 72mn), John Keells Holdings (LKR 24mn) and Tokyo Cement – nonvoting (LKR 12mn) while top net outflow was seen in Chevron Lubricants (LKR 50mn).

At today’s Treasury bill auction, yields declined in 6-months (9.55%, -16bps) and 12-months durations (10.1%, -15bps) while yield of 3-months bill remained unchanged. The auction received LKR 71bn worth of bids but CBSL accepted only LKR 16bn.

Source: LSL

Sri Lanka shares edge up; tax proposals weigh

Reuters: Sri Lankan shares ended slightly higher on Wednesday as investors sought bargains in blue-chips but concerns over recent budget tax proposals weighed on sentiment.

The Colombo stock index ended up 0.15 percent at 6,241.10, ending three sessions of losses.

The index hit a near-eight-month low on Tuesday on concerns that the proposed hike in various taxes and fees would reduce disposable income and challenge consumption-led growth, analysts said.

"Market is up on bargain-hunting by foreigners but it's not a major factor at the moment unless the trend is going to continue," said Dimantha Mathew, head of research at First Capital Equities (Pvt) Ltd.

"I feel its like a one-off thing. Investors are concerned over the current uncertainty and we could see volatility in the market with the current economic uncertainty."

The government aims to boost its 2017 tax revenue by 27 percent to 1.82 trillion rupees year-on-year and meet a commitment given to the International Monetary Fund in return for a $1.5 billion loan in May.

The market shrugged off the central bank's key monetary policy decision on Tuesday to keep rates unchanged. Brokers said investors are concerned about sustainability of rates.

Turnover stood at 579.6 million rupees ($3.89 million), much less than this year's daily average of 694.6 million rupees.

Foreign investors bought a net 48.1 million rupees worth of shares on Wednesday, but have been net sellers of 1.64 billion rupees worth of shares so far this year.

Shares of conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc jumped 2.63 percent while Dialog Axiata Plc rose 2.97 percent and Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc rose 0.47 percent.

($1 = 148.9000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Sunil Nair)

‘NSB continues its healthy growth momentum with a PBT of Rs. 10.1 bn for 9 months ending September 30, 2016’

NSB recorded a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 10.2 billion for 9 months ended 30th September 2016, a 12% increase as compared with the same period last year. Growth in traditional lines of business, enhanced Fee based income coupled with lower impairment provisioning due to a significant improvement in asset quality been the contributory factors leading to this growth.

The Bank reported an Operating Profit of Rs. 12.3 billion for the nine months period recording a growth of 13% when compared to Rs. 10.9 billion Operating Profit reported for the correspondence period last year. The Profit after Tax (PAT) was reported at Rs. 7.4 billion for the nine months ended 30th September which is a notable growth of 32% compared to Rs. 5.6 billion PAT recorded during the same period last year. These profits were recorded despite lower Net Interest margins due to a rising market interest rate scenario.

Interest income of the Bank grew by 8% to reach Rs. 62.9 billion while interest expenses recorded an increase of 15% mainly due to upward repricing of its term deposit portfolio on account of interest rate pressures.

The Bank’s Loans and Advances portfolio grew satisfactorily helped by a growth in Retail Loans of 17% as compared to the previous year. Another key highlight been the significant decline of gross Non Performing Loans (NPL) ratio to 1.8% as at 30th September, 2016 from 3.5% at the start of year 2016.

The Bank has already contributed Rs.14.4 billion to the Government in the form of Taxes and Levies for the year 2016. A significantly higher amount as compared with last year.

The total assets of the Bank stood at Rs. 886 billion by end of 30th September indicating a growth of 5%. During the period under review, total deposit base of the Bank grew by 7% to reach Rs. 638 billion.

The Bank’s Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.6% while total capital adequacy was 10.6% as at 30th September, 2016. Those ratios were 17.9% & 16.4% as at 31st December 2015.

www.island.lk

Seylan raises US$ 15 mn term facility from Dubai’s Rakbank

Alpen Capital (ME) Limited, an investment banking advisory firm, also based in the UAE acted as the sole financial advisor to the transaction.

Seylan Bank will utilise the funds for general business development and portfolio growth in its Foreign Currency Banking Unit (FBCU).

The USD 15 million 5 year loan facilities was signed in Dubai, UAE on November 27, 2016 in the presence of Kapila Ariyaratne (Director/CEO - Seylan Bank), Ramesh Jayasekara (Chief Risk Officer- Seylan Bank), Peter England (CEO - Rakbank ), Rohit Walia (Executive Chairman - Alpen Capital) and other senior management members from all parties involved.

Rakbank CEO Peter England said they are pleased to have partnered with Seylan Bank to support their general expansion plan of the Foreign Currency Banking Unit. “This long term financing allows us to diversify our asset book into various geographies while introducing Seylan Bank to the region,”he said.

Seylan Bank Chief Executive Officer Kapila Ariyaratne said: “We are extremely pleased to sign up on this partnership as the Bank’s first long term financial agreement with the Middle East market, which reflects strong in investor confidence in Seylan Bank’s operations and future growth potential.”

Rakbank, also known as the National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah, is one of the UAE’s oldest and most dynamic financial institutions.

Unspecified action taken against Perpetual Treasuries: CB Governor

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's central bank has taken unspecified action against Perpetual Treasuries, a primary dealer in government securities that was involved in controversial deals.

Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said the Monetary Board, the highest decision-making body had taken action on November 07 and also later but decline to elaborate.

He said details would be revealed later.

A parliamentary committee has recommended that the profits made from allegedly rigged auctions should be clawed back and legal action also taken against the former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran.

Perpetual Treasuries is connected to Mahendran's son-in-law Arjuna Aloysius.

Sri Lanka to lift age 70-year age restriction on company directors

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka has proposed to remove a restriction of persons over the age 70 serving on the boards of private companies.

At the moment, the term of a person reaching 70 years can be extended by a special resolution approved by shareholders under Sri Lanka's company law.

"…I propose to remove this restriction enabling Chairmen and Members of the Board of Directors who are also shareholding directors to continue to serve on the Board beyond the age of 70 years," Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said in the text of a speech in a budget for 2017.

It is not clear why such a proposal was brought in the budget. There had been no public discussion or debate on the matter before the proposal.

Colombo Stock Exchange Market Review – 29th Nov 2016

(Click here)

Colombo Stock Exchange Trade Summary 29-Nov-2016

Colombo bourse remained on negative side amid foreign outflows. Benchmark index slid by 7.00 index points (-0.11%) to end at 6,231.87 while high cap constituent S&P SL20 index lost 2.96 index points or 0.09% to end at 3,456.90.

Premier blue-chips, Nestle Lanka (closed at LKR 2,014.30, -1.6%), Lion Brewery (closed at LKR 451.00, -3.7%) and Dialog Axiata (closed at LKR 10.10, -1.0%) impacted the index performance. However, gains in Sri Lanka Telecom (closed at LKR 35.60, +1.7%) and Overseas Realty (closed at LKR 20.00, +3.1%) eased the negative impact.

Daily market turnover hit five week high of LKR 1bn supported by hefty crossings recorded in selected blue-chips. Aitken Spence contributed for bulk of the turnover (LKR 307mn) underpinned by five crossings of 4.1mn shares at LKR 65.00. Teejay Lanka was the next best contributor with LKR 201mn. Two crossings of 3.5mn shares of Teejay Lanka changed hands at LKR 42.50. John Keells Holdings (LKR 135mn) and Ceylon Tobacco (LKR 92mn) were among top contributors.

Another two crossings were witnessed in John Keells Holdings (0.36mn shares at LKR 144.50) and Hatton National Bank (0.20mn shares at LKR 218.00). Aggregate value of crossings accounted for 50% of the turnover.

Losers outweighed the gainers 84 to 57, while 79 counters remained unchanged. High investor activity was witnessed in John Keells Holdings, Teejay Lanka, Tokyo Cement non-voting and Alumex.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the day with a net foreign outflow of LKR 296mn. Foreign participation was 57%. Net foreign outflows were seen in Aitken Spence (LKR 276mn), John Keells Holdings (LKR 66mn) and Teejal Lanka (LKR 33mn). Net foreign inflow was mainly seen in Commercial Bank (LKR 46mn).

Source: LSL