Vallibel exit boosts market

Turnover remained high at the Colombo Stock Exchange with interest picking up on news that Vallibel Power Erathna’s (VPEL) largest shareholder was looking to exit the company at Rs 5.00 a share. Trading in the VPEL’s share boosted turnover by Rs 85.3 million.

VPEL which posted RS 377 million in profits for the year ended March 2008, has an EPS of 50 cents and a Net Asset Value per Share of Rs 2.02.

The largest shareholders of the company are Vallibel Power at 381,025,984 shares (51%) and KDD Perera 184,276,752 shares (24.67 %).

The shareholders indicated that they would consider a counter offer of Rs 5.60 if any other party was interested in VPEL. The company’s share closed the day Rs 4.40. Janashakthi Insurance disclosed that it received 6,931 applications for 74.2 million shares (value of shares: Rs 890.9 million).

Other notable trades in the market were Hayley’s MGT (Rs 41.8 million) and Lanka Ventures (Rs 16 million). Sharp price movements were seen in Agalawatte Plantations (+16.3%) to close at Rs 41.00 and Seylan Merchant - NV (-16.7%) to close at 50 cents. Total turnover for the day was Rs 236.2 million with the indices recording gains.

The ASPI was up 19.6 points (0.8%) to close at 2479.5 and the MPI up by 36.1 points (1.2%) to close at 2986.5