Bourse rebounds after Thursday’s fall : Fortis buys 28% of Lanka Hospitals from Distilleries

Twenty eight percent of Lanka Hospitals, owners of what used to be the Apollo Hospital, was sold on the Colombo bourse yesterday for slightly under Rs.4 billion with the Distilleries Company the seller and Fortis Healthcare Global Holdings Pte Ltd, an international player in the industry, the buyer. This was the big news on the stock market which rebounded yesterday after Thursday’s tumble with the All Share Price Index up 143.98 points (1.91%) and the Milanka up 52.93 points (0.76%) on a turnover of nearly Rs.7.7 billion, up from the previous day’s Rs.2.7 billion, with 136 gainers strongly outpacing 55 losers.

"Retailers moved the market yesterday with a strong presence seen in Grain Elevators, Watapota rights, Laugfs Gas and Hemas Holdings," Prashan Fernando of Acuity Stockbrokers said.

There was one crossing of 64.1 million Lanka Hospitals at a price of Rs.62. This comprised the bulk of the total of slightly over 70.9 million shares done yesterday. The share was traded on the floor between Rs.49 and Rs.59.50 closing 60 cents down at Rs.59.

Grains was up Rs.4.40 to close at Rs.199 on nearly 4.2 million shares done between Rs.198 and Rs.211 while Watapota rights shot up by Rs.693.50 to close at Rs.860 on slightly over 0.5 million done between Rs.450 and Rs.969.90

Laugfs Gas was up Rs.1.30 to close at Rs.53.30 on over 6.2 million shares done between Rs.51.60 and Rs.54.50 while Hemas was up Rs.1.10 to close at Rs.47 on nearly 3.9 million shares done between Rs.46 and Rs.48.10.

Other counters that showed volume and price gain included Ceylon Guardian, up Rs.15.60 to Rs.419.90 on over 0.2 million shares, Ahungalla up Rs.4.10 to Rs.102.90 on over 0.8 million shares, Piramal Glass up 50 cents to Rs.11.10 on nearly 7.4 million shares and Distilleries up Rs.8.20 to Rs.178.90 on over 0.4 million shares.



source - www.island.lk