Sri Lankan Corporates to list in Tokyo Stock Exchange

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), which is the third largest equity/stock market in the world with a total market capitalization of US $ 3.3 trillion, has expressed

interest to have Sri Lankan listed Corporates in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to be listed in the TSE as Japanese Depository Receipts (JDRs), stated Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Japan, Admiral (Rtd.) Wasantha Karannagoda.

Listing of foreign corporates in the TSE as JDRs, was customary, since foreign corporates were already listed in their home countries.

According to Ambassador Karannagoda, this was an opportune point of time to have Sri Lankan listed corporates be listed in the global TSE market, since the TSE was in the process of merging with the Osaka Stock Exchange (OSE).This mega integration of these two mega markets i.e. TSE & OSE, would reinvigorate the Japanese equity market, thus benefitting the corporates and the investors, alike.

Senior officials of the TSE, have conducted discussions with the relevant officials of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tokyo, in this context.

For record purposes, the listing of Sri Lankan corporates in the TSE, would enable Sri Lankan corporates to tap and raise funds from external (international) sources, money center banks and markets. Ambassador Karannagoda, said that once a Sri Lankan corporate was listed in a major global exchange such as the TSE, it would obviously raise her profile and her stature not only on regional basis, but also on a global basis.

Further, listing Sri Lankan corporates in other major markets/exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), London Stock Exchange (LSE) or the NASDAQ of the US, was a long and arduous process, let alone the cost of listing.

Accordingly, the listing in the TSE was less difficult, less costly and the process is less arduous.

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) was among the best performing three markets in the world from 2009 to 2011. Further, the CSE was fuelled, mostly, not only by domestic investors, but by foreign investors.

The TSE has noted that the fundamentals and the technical factors of the listed companies of the CSE were, generally, more stable than that of many other markets, in both developed and developing nations.

The Price Earning Ratio (P/E) of the CSE was an impressive number of around 13.

It was surprising that despite a number of large Blue-Chip corporates which were listed in the CSE, but not a single company was listed in any major global exchange.

According to Ambassador Karannagoda, that listing of Sri Lankan corporates in the TSE would make them more globalized and more connected, thus been able to compete and vie with other similar corporates in the region as well as in the world.

For all record purposes, the keen interest expressed by the TSE on corporates of the CSE augurs well on the performance of the CSE as well as of the economy of the country.