Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Rs. 1.8bn ASHA trade buoys bourse

The Colombo bourse recovered some lost ground yesterday on the back of a transaction featuring a large parcel of Asiri Central Hospitals PLC (ASHA) with turnover exceeding two billion rupees.

The All Share Price Index closed at 5,507.79 points, 0.07 percent higher gaining 4.28 points while the Milanka Price Index of more liquid stocks closed 0.54 percent higher, up 27.40 points to 5,039.30.

The S&P SL20 closed at 3,019.62 points, gaining 0.34 percent or 10.18 points.

Turnover reached Rs. 2.58 billion on a volume of 35.3 million shares changing hands during the day.

Foreign purchases amounted to Rs. 477 million resulting in a net inflow of Rs. 140 million.

"The ASPI ended marginally higher amid strong gains in a few large caps. Turnover levels crossed the Rs. 2bn threshold mainly on the back of a large trade on ASHA, which accounted for over 70% of market turnover. The market also saw crossings on COMB, DIAL, and SAMP," John Keells Stockbrokers said.

In a stock exchange filing, Asiri Hospital Holdings PLC said it purchased 7,303,257 ASHA shares for a consideration of little more than Rs. 1.82 billion from Asiri Surgical Hospital PLC in order to consolidate its shareholding as part of the Asiri group restructuring process.

Asiri Hospital Holdings now holds an 88.48 percent stake in ASHA, which was 55.78 percent prior to the deal.

Hikkaduwa Beach Resort was the biggest gainer yesterday, up 15.49 percent closing at Rs. 25.20.

Kuruwita Textiles Mills closed 12.78 percent lower at Rs. 19.90 to be the biggest loser of the day.

source - www.island.lk

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