Financial Times

SriLankan Airlines to go public?
Corporate circles were buzzing with speculation that the national carrier SriLankan Airlines plans to get listed on the stock market but airline officials were not aware.

"A SriLankan Airlines listing will increase the market size significantly and raise confidence in the market," a stock analyst said. "As far as SriLankan Airlines is concerned, we are not aware of this," a senior airline official told The Sunday Times FT. He said the decision is entirely up to the government.

A stockbroker said an immediate listing is highly unlikely due to the difference in policy in the UPFA government. However, he said an IPO in the near future will be ideal, as the airline has increased its profit for FY 2003/04.

He said at present there is no big IPO in the pipeline after LIOC. "We must now move on from LIOC to the next level to increase our market capitalisation." The Colombo Stock Exchange currently has a market capitalisation of US$ 3.7 billion. The stockbroker said the country receives more donor aid than the present market capitalisation.

"The foreign companies will enter the capital markets if the stock market has more capitalisation," he said.

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