The Rs. 400 million initial public offering (IPO) of Singer Finance Limited was oversubscribed yesterday, a stock exchange filing said. The subscription list was opened yesterday and this announcement was made to Colombo Stock Exchange a little after 10am.
The offer was for nearly 26.6 million shares at Rs. 15 each.
The funds raised through the IPO would be utilised for expansion.
SFLL has 6 branches and 6 service centres while 370 retail outlets island wide, including Singer Plus, Singer Mega, Singer Homes and Sisil World stores.
The company is planning to increase its branch network to 24 by 2015 which would cover the North and East as well.
Profit after tax for the year ended March 31, 2006 amounted to Rs. 3.9 million, in 2007 it increased to Rs. 11.09 million, reaching Rs. 36.4 million in 2008 before dipping to Rs. 12.7 million in 2009. In 2010, profits increased to Rs. 54.1 million.
Net interest income was Rs. 67.2 million in 2006 and increased rapidly to 254.9 million by 2008. Despite being a difficult year, net interest income grew further in 2009 reaching Rs. 113.3 million and almost tripled to Rs. 322.7 during the year ended March 31, 2010.
The basis of allotment would be announced later, but prior to the IPO launch, Singer Sri Lanka PLC, parent company of Singer Finance, Chairman Hemaka Amarasuriya said it was a foregone conclusion that the IPO would be oversubscribed and he was keen that small investors were given an opportunity.
"The rich have had their fun and games and they are getting richer. I am keen to see small investors be given a chance. The future of the capital market would depend on small investors especially from rural areas. The rich can only go so far and the participation of small and rural investors would determine the development of the capital market," Amarasuriya said when the IPO was announced earlier this month.
source - www.island.lk
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