Market heavyweights Lanka IOC and Expolanka Holdings boost CSE – The Island

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

Luminex Limited, one of Sri Lanka’s small multifaceted engineering companies, started trading on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) this week following an initial public offering (IPO) to raise Rs 250 million , the CSE said in a statement. listed on the Diri Savi Board of the CSE in the sector “2010 – Capital Goods”. The launch of the negotiations was marked by a special ringing ceremony on the floor of the CSE.

Luminex is the fifth stock listing so far this year. The CSE index rose more than 1.6% yesterday, driven by market heavyweights Expolanka and Lanka IOC, stock analysts said. The attractive dividend payout from Expolanka and the likely rise in fuel from Lanka IOC are said to have shown strong buying pressure for these stocks.

An analyst said the market was mainly supported by Expolanka shares, following its dividend of Rs 8.19 for the year ending March 2023. Amid these developments, both indices rose. The All-Share Price Index rose 95.1 points and S and P SL20 rose 47.5 points. The turnover stood at Rs 1.2 billion with two crossings. These crosses were reported in Commercial Bank, which crossed 1.7 million shares at Rs 85 million, its shares were trading at Rs 50 and HNB, which crossed 260,000 shares at Rs 20.8 million, its shares were trading at Rs 80.

In the retail market, the top seven companies that primarily contributed to revenue were; Lanka IOC Rs 241 million (3.4 million shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 214 million (1.1 million shares traded), JKH Rs 87.3 million (715,000 shares traded), Commercial Bank Rs 68, 5 million (1.3 million shares traded), HNB Rs 66.9 million (835,000 shares traded), Browns Investments Rs 45.6 million (5.3 million shares traded) and LOLC Finance Rs 42.4 million (597,000 shares traded). During the day, 44.7 million volumes of shares changed hands in 12,000 transactions.

It is said that high net worth and institutional investor participation have been noted in Commercial Bank, Hatton National Bank and John Keells Holdings. Mixed interest was seen from Expolanka Holdings, Royal Ceramics and Lanka IOC, while retail interest was noted from Browns Investments, LOLC Finance and SMB Leasing. Yesterday, the Central Bank announced that the buying rate for the US dollar was Rs. 356.12 and the selling rate was Rs.367.16.