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| Sunday, 11 May 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Increased dividends from Ceybank Unit Trusts The Unit Trust Management Co. (Pvt) Ltd (UTMCL), the manager of Ceybank Unit Trust Funds, and Bank of Ceylon, the trustee, have announced an increased dividend of 50 cents per unit to holders of Ceybank Unit Trusts for FY 2002/03. This is a 25 per cent increase over last year's dividends. Based on the offer prices as at April 1, 2002, this gives a dividend yield of 7.5 per cent for Ceybank Unit Trust and 5.3 per cent for Ceybank Century Growth Fund. This is in addition to the capital appreciation. Ceybank Unit Trust, Sri Lanka's largest unit trust fund with net assets over Rs. 1,000 million as at end March 2003, has beaten the All Share Price Index (ASPI) once again by 4.4 per cent margin during the financial year ending March 31, 2003. The ASPI has grown by 19.7 per cent and Ceybank Unit Trust bid price appreciated by 24.1 per cent. During the 24-months ended March 31, 2003, Ceybank Unit Trust beat the ASPI by a 17.5 per cent margin, and during the past 36 months, it beat the index by a 20.8 per cent margin, thus showing consistent performance as shown in the table. During the FY02/03, Ceybank Unit Trust realised Rs. 130 million as capital gains and its equity portfolio grew to Rs. 798 million. UTMCL has decided to distribute Rs. 65 million, part of which is from realised capital gains. The unit holders have the option to reinvest this dividend in the fund without the usual five per cent front-end fee. Ceybank Century Growth Fund is the largest equity fund among the growth funds in the country. The fund, launched in December 1996, seeks to provide capital appreciation to the unit holders in the medium-term by investing primarily in the equity market. The income is distributed from time to time to give maximum tax benefits to its investors and this is the fifth dividend distributed by the fund. Century Fund has shown outstanding performance during the FY02/03 to lead the unit trust industry with 27.7 per cent growth, thus outperforming the ASPI by 8.1 per cent. During the 24 months ended March 31, 2003, it beat the ASPI by a 22.6 per cent margin, and during the past 36-months, it beat the index by a 28.7 per cent margin, showing consistent performance as shown in the table. The Ceybank Fund managers, with the intention of achieving capital growth with the expected upward movement of the market in the medium-term, have made a significant shift in the asset allocation of their funds. The fund's investments are well diversified and the equity is heavily weighted towards banking, manufacturing and diversified sectors. These sectors are expected to rebound and therefore, Ceybank Unit Trust Funds are well placed to take advantage of the potential upside in the market. |
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