Last week the ASI was flirting with the 7000 barrier but this week it was a divorce since the premier index was nowhere near the 7000 mark, easing for most part of the week, except for a minor improvement on Friday.
Among the reasons for this depression was the the tough action by the Securities & Exchange Commission (which some brokers say also created an element of confusion), and the inaction of some of the retail participants due to the forced selling issue. The depression at the bourse was translated into the low turnover for the week.
The flood of IPOs which put many people into difficulty has now receded and there are some new regulations introduced for the benefit of the retail investors. From the list of IPO casualties, Softlogic Holdings still remains well below its initial offering but Textured Jersey Lanka had a temporary upside. It will be interesting to witness the next episode on the IPOs, the pricing, the investor reaction, and the price on their debut.
On the long term horizon, there is the Cargills group throwing caution to the winds and moving into high speed expansion. In addition to their new Agricultural Commercial Bank, a Rs 500 million new shopping and Entertainment complex in Jaffna was launched this week. In due course this group may have to resort to private placements and IPOs to fund these mega projects. Cargills closed for the week at Rs 210.
In another enterprising expansion, CIC is arranging for a joint venture with an agri business company in Qatar for dealing in outdoor plants, fresh fruits, rice and vegetables. In a continuation from the end of last week, Ascot Holdings rose to Rs 192 on Monday when a massive 1.4 million shares were transacted but it gradually took a downward slant.
Renuka Agri Foods and Free Lanka Capital Holdings continued their momentum for the early part of the week but slipped back in tandem with the general tone of the market. East West Properties PC House and Panasian Power continued to attract interest alongside Muller & Phipps and Tess Agro.
Hotel Developers moved into a sudden phase of activity on Friday, reaching Rs 145.30 but tapered downward on reports of a possible settlement of the longstanding dispute.
In the illiquid group, Colombo Pharmacy closed at Rs 1681.50 and E B Creasy at Rs 2600, while Eastern Merchants was at Rs 2700 on the last day of trading before the sub division of 1 into 70.
PRICE BANDS: Removals -Blue Diamonds Non Voting, E.Channelling andSeylan Merchant Bank Warrants W0016 from 13th September and Ceylon Tea Brokers from 14th September. It was imposed on Asian Holdings and Tess Agro from 13th to 19th September, and on Muller & Phipps from 14th to 20th September.
CHANGES IN DIRECTORATES:
Blue Diamonds Jewellery World Wide PLC - Godfrey De Kretser was appointed Deputy Chairman/Executive Director on 13th September; Lanka IOC --Viyaya Kumar Gupta was appointed Non Executive Director replacing P K Goyal;Asian Allance Insurance PLC -- Ashok K Pathirage was appointed chairman on 15th September with J H P Ratnayeke as appointed Deputy Chairman.
R C D de Silva resigned from the board; Nanda Investments & Finance Ltd -Dr. Sunil Pieris Jayawardena was appointed independent Non Executive Director while R Y Dayabandu resigned as a, Director.
A low turnover of Rs 10.2 billion was recorded when compared to last week’s Rs 19.7 billion. Likewise the indices were also lower than last week with the All Share Price index losing 119.41 points or 0.1% to end at 6870.92 while the Milanka lost 77.69 points or 0.1% to close at 6209.24.
Influential lawyer-cum businessman dies
Influential corporate lawyer-cum-businessman R.Senathirajah stepped down as Chairman and director of both York Arcade Holdings PLC and Colombo Fort Land & Building Co PLC on September 12, and three days later passsed away believed to be from a heart attack. He was in the 80s and the funeral was held on Friday morning.
A group led by Mr Senathirajah took control of Lankem in 1988-89 and gradually went on a buying spree, acquiring other companies including E.B. Creasy and Darley Butler & Co. Lankem’s current chairman A. Rajaratnam is Mr Senathirajah’s brother. |
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