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| Wednesday, 22 October 2003 |
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JKH 24 million share private placement oversubscribed by Ravi Ladduwahetty The private placement of premier diversified blue chip John Keells Holdings Ltd of 24 million shares have been oversubscribed, largely by foreign investors in a positive sign for the country, with the strike price expected to be in the region of Rs 130, market analysts told the Daily News yesterday. Shareholders approved the private placement at an Extraordinary General Meeting yesterday and an announcement is expected on the allocation and pricing shortly. The company is meanwhile expected to also announce healthy interim results before the year's end, they said. The market witnessed moderate buying in John Keells Holdings (JKH) with a volume of 577,000 shares changing hands, at between Rs 134.50 to Rs 135.50. The Colombo bourse recorded high turnover levels again of Rs 669.1 million to close on a positive note yesterday, with the All Share Price Index closing by a (provisional) 2.1 points at 1,392.4 points whilst the Milanka Price Index (MPI) closed up 14.7 points at 2,471.1 (provisionally) points with retail and domestic institutions once again being the main players. The focus of the day's trading was the banking sector, which contributed almost half the day's turnover at Rs 339.2 million. The key banking sector stocks that investors paid attention were Nations Trust Bank (NTB), Seylan Bank Non-Voting and Mercantile Leasing. The Seylan Bank Non-Voting share was the most heavily traded stock, with 4.3 million shares being traded between Rs 28 and Rs. 29.50, while it closed at Rs 29.25 for the day with a gain of 4.46%, while NTB gained a further 8.6% with 1.9 million shares changing hands from Rs 38.00 to Rs 41.00. Analysts believe that these banks will report strong nine-months results with above average contributions from their treasury divisions. Mercantile Leasing is also expected to release excellent interim results, benefiting from the declining interest rate environment. The health care sector has contributed Rs 38.7 million to the day's turnover, with the main contribution being from Lanka Hospitals Ltd (Apollo Hospital). It is speculated that the Kuwaiti Al Nakib family cut its losses, while the buyer is believed to be the Janashakthi Group. |
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