By Hiran H. Senewiratne
Investor sentiment at the CSE remained mixed with the two price indices moving in opposite directions, though turnover was on a healthy trajectory. But the stock market was driven by Commercial Leasing and Finance PLC (CLC), which contributed 171 points to the All-Share Price Index. Further, CLC became the company with the biggest market capitalization in the CSE beating Expolanka Holdings yesterday, stock market analysts said.
CLC’s market capitalization swells to Rs 452 billion, which is 9.7 percent of the total market capitalization in the CSE. But Expolanka Holdings’ total market capitalization was around Rs 397 billion as of yesterday, stock market analysts said.
But on the previous day, CLC overtook parent and one- time high flyer LOLC Holdings PLC to become the second most valuable entity in the CSE. Its share price appreciated by 20 percent or Rs 12. Yesterday its shares started trading at Rs 59 and at the end of the day they shot up to Rs 71. Despite the bullish sentiment on the stock, CLC saw a relatively low volume with 7.2 million shares changing hands via 4,575 trades for Rs. 396.7 million.
Another LOLC subsidiary LOLC Finance’s share price also appreciated by 5 percent or 50 cents. Its shares began trading at Rs 9.80 and at the end of the day they shot up to Rs 10.30.
Amid those developments both indices showed mixed reactions. All Share Price Index went up by 140.31 points and S and P SL20 came down by 8.44 points. Turnover stood at Rs 6.1 billion with three crossings. Those crossings were reported in Access Engineering, which crossed 16.2 million shares to the tune of Rs 405 million and its shares traded at Rs 25, JKH 250,000 shares crossed for Rs 37.8 million, its shares traded at Rs 151 and Colombo Fort Lands two million shares crossed for Rs 31 million, its shares traded at Rs 15.50.
In the retail market top five companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were Expolanka Holdings Rs 1.03 billion (five million shares traded), Agalawatte Plantations Rs 786 million (25 million shares traded), Commercial Leasing and Finance Rs 754 million (10.9 million shares traded), LOLC Finance Rs 331 million (31.8 million shares traded) and Browns Investments Rs 308 million (29 million shares traded). During the day 188 million share volumes changed hands in 42000 transactions.
Ex-Pack Corrugated Cartons Limited’s Rs 700 million IPO, witnessed 6,000+ applicants seeking to subscribe, resulting in 11 plus oversubscriptions. This is the highest rate of oversubscription witnessed by any recent IPO, making it the highest subscribed IPO for 2021. The IPO, which opened on the 22nd of October 2021, was oversubscribed in a matter of minutes and, thus, closed at 4.30pm the same day. Yesterday the US dollar was quoted at Rs 202.55 as per the Central Bank controlled price.
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