Touchwood out of the woods

Channa Kasturisinghe

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) yesterday decided to resume trading with Touchwood Investment Ltd. shares which was suspended on Monday.

The CSE said that the decision to suspend trading of the stock came as it noticed unusual increase of the share price of the Company. However, after lengthy discussions with the company and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the CSE finally decided to resume trading of the stock.

The trading of the stock resumed in the afternoon and 760,000 shares were traded. However, the share was down by Rs.3.50 compared to the day on which the trading was suspended. The share closed at 108.75.

Meanwhile, the Company yesterday submitted information about its accounting policy to the Senior Manager-Listing and Surveillance of the CSE. The company's letter described how the fair value of consumable biological assets were determined.

It gave details about market value of trees in its plantaions etc. The company said it had adopted the International Accounting Standard (IAS) 41 to value its Mahogany and Vanilla plants. However, sources said the SEC is planning to further investigate into the accounts of the Company.

Yesterday, the All Share Price Index was down by 40.67 points to close at 2,170.34 and the Milanka Price Index was down by 68.73 points 2,769.59. The turnover was Rs. 333 million.

The highlight of the day's trading was the change of hands of over 16 million of Vanik incorporated shares.