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| Sunday, 24 February 2002 |
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Stock Focus: from February 15 to 21 by Elton P. Ebert Moderate activity prevailed, punctuated with shades of foreign interest in Asian Hotels and JK Holdings, both of which were transacted in large quantities. Over two million Asian Hotels were transacted on Wednesday, followed by another million on Thursday, the closing price being Rs. 6.25. Pelwatte Sugar, which touched Rs. 13.50 but experienced a gradual slide to close at Rs. 12 on the 21st, along with Asia Capital, evoked strong market demand. The latter came out with encouraging growth figures for the nine months ended December 31, 2001. Among the finance companies, LB Finance and Arpico, which has diversified into the furniture business, enjoyed increased demand and a resultant price hike. On the 19th 612,000 LB Finance shares were transacted. Last week on the 12th, around 180,000 shares were also traded. Meanwhile, NDB and DFCC were easy in the market. Lanka Milk Foods, which reported impressive earnings, found favour in the market, closing at Rs. 9.50 on the 21st, when 156,000 shares were transacted. Plantations experienced cautious demand. The Dow Jones, which improved to 9941, and the Nasdaq at 1,775 on Wednesdays, helped a rally in the Japanese and Hong Kong markets. The Bank of Japan urged further injection of public funds which was another positive factor. Heavily traded stocks 1. JK Holdings 1,478,900, 2. Pelwatte Sugar 3,119,700, 3. Asian Hotels 3,972,800, 4. Aitken Spence 152,200 A summary of the more frequently traded stocks. Company Period February 15 Previous January 21 to 2002 Transactions 2001 end Central Finance 51.00-49.00 49.50 49.50 Commercial Bank 140.00-140.25 140.00 133.00 NDB 65.50-66.50 65.00 61.25 Vanik 2.75-3.00 3.00 2.50 CT Land 7.00-6.75 7.00 6.75 JK Holding 52.00-51.25 50.25 50.50 Lanka Milk Foods8.75-9.50 8.75 8.25 Plantations Balangoda 21.00-22.00 21.00 20.50 Hapugastenna 9.00 9.00 9.00 Feb. 14, 2002 Feb.21,2002 All Share Index: 582.14 582.20 Milanka Index: 939.74 932.11 Turnover last week: Rs. 208 million Turnover this week: Rs. 403 million Market capitalisaiton: Rs. 115 billion (Equities) Market capitalisation: Rs. 8 billion (Debt) Market price earnings ratio: 7.1 Foreign Activity Purchases: Rs. 56 million Sales: Rs. 119 million Announcements Dividends 1. Haycarb: 15% Interim, payable March 11 2. Chemanex: 12% Interim, payable March 18 3. Seylan Bank: 12.5% Final April 5 4. Industrial Asphalts: 5% Interim - to be notified 5. CDIC: 15% final - to be notified Asha Central Hospitals Ltd: offer of 2 million shares at Rs. 13 on the second board opened on Feb. 21. |
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