Sri Lankan stocks running hot on local capital: brokers

Sri Lanka markets 18 month bull-run, driven nearly 85 percent on local liquidity will soon run out of steam if foreign investors don't join the action, a senior official at Bartleet Mallory Stockbrokers said.

"The way the figures are, about 80 percent is a local driven market," Eraj Wijesinghe, chairman of Bartleet Mallory Stockbrokers (BMS) said.

"We just can't go on the foreign funds need to coming in, foreign investors coming in for us to get into the international arena."

BMS last week struck a strategic partnership with Religare, an Indian based asset management company which bought a 50 percent share for over 10 million dollars.

The bourse, once a sleepy index is now the toast of the region, second only to the Mongolian Index as the world's best performing market.

However despite the euphoria and high fives at the end of another record breaking day is still flying below the radar of foreign investors.

Year to date there was a net foreign outflow of 14.7 billion rupees.

State controlled pension funds who shunned on investing equities just over two years ago are now the big investors. They already have controlling or near controlling stakes on several leading commercial banks and blue chip stocks.

Analysts say the market is now showing signs of slowing down.

On Monday, Sri Lankan stocks in early morning trade on Monday passed 7,000 points mark for the first time in history, but could lost momentum due to investors cashing-in to cover margin trades, brokers said.

"There is a possibility the market will slowdown in the coming weeks due to new regulations on credit effective from January next year, while some investors took profits," Thakshila Hulangamuwa, vice president at Asha Phillip Securities told LBR.

"Due to a lack of participation we won't see turnover levels improving from the current range of four to five billion rupees."

Market watchdog the Securities & Exchange Commission effective from January 01, 2011, has banned all stock brokering firms granting credit to customers in fear of possible systemic risk in future.

Sysmatic risks arise when stock brokering firms default on transaction settlements.

The current trade settlement system is based on T (time) 3 or times plus three where transaction have to be settled within three working days.

This allows day traders to buy and sell securities for millions of rupees on credit, if the brokering firm is willing to take the credit risk.

--Riyad RiffaiLBR,Monday 27 September 2010

Bartleet TransCapital entered into alliance with global financial services giant Religare Enterprises Limited (REL)

Colombo, Monday, 15th September 2010: Sri Lanka’s hi-octane stock market will reach new horizons
with the entry of the global financial services giant Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) in a milestone
strategic alliance announced today with Bartleet TransCapital.
The New Delhi-headquartered Religare Group (www.religare.in) which serves over a million clients
including corporates, institutions, high net worth families and individuals and retail investors in Asia,
Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, plans to establish its footprint in Sri Lanka initially in
stock broking by taking a 50 per cent stake in Bartleet Mallory Stockbrokers (BMS), the announcement
said. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
Bartleet Mallory Stockbrokers (www.bartleetstock.com) which is fully-owned by Bartleet TransCapital
(www.bartleettranscapital.com), has decided to increase its share capital to accommodate Religare
Enterprises.
The partnership will bring in best practices in non-banking financial services including broking operations
to the Sri Lankan market and leverage Bartleet’s established brand reputation, client relationships and
market leading stock broking presence in Sri Lanka to attract more international investors to the Colombo
Stock Exchange and to facilitate an extension of services to regional markets such as Bangladesh,
Maldives and Pakistan, Bartleet TransCapital Chairman and former Central Bank Governor Deshamanya
A S Jayawardena said.
It will also result in Colombo being integrated into Religare’s global network of investment banking
centres across emerging markets and London and bring to the attention of international fund managers the
increasing opportunities in well-managed Sri Lankan companies.
For Religare, the tie-up represents a significant addition to its emerging market pan Asian vision and
takes forward the Religare strategy of creating an emerging markets investment banking and stock
broking leader.
Commenting on the partnership, Religare Group CEO Shachindra Nath said: “With the upsurge in
economic and capital markets indicators over the last one year, Sri Lanka is a key market for Religare,
especially considering its proximity both physically and culturally to India. We are delighted to bring
such an impressive team into the Religare fold that would add considerable depth to our South Asia
investment banking and stock broking business.”
“Consistent with our view that high-growth developing markets represent an overwhelming opportunity
in terms of business flows, we are quickly positioning ourselves to provide the advice and distribution
capability that our global investor and corporate client base will require. Bartleet absolutely stands out for
its reputation and trustworthiness in the Sri Lankan financial sector.”
Eraj Wijesinghe, Chairman of the Bartleet Group added: “The post-conflict resurgence of Sri Lanka has
sparked new interest in business opportunities here. In this context, integrating Bartleet Mallory
Stockbrokers’ presence and reach in Sri Lanka in delivering results for clients with Religare’s scale and
ambition makes perfect sense. As a team we’re excited to become part of Religare’s carefully-conceived
vision to create a pan-emerging markets fully-integrated financial services group with a focus on
investment banking and to give our client base access to the wealth of opportunities that provides.”
The Religare Group employs more than 10,000 people across multiple geographies. In India, Religare’s
largest market, the group offers a wide array of products and services ranging from insurance, asset
management, broking and lending solutions to investment banking and wealth management. The group
also pioneered the concept of investments in alternative asset classes such as arts and films.
Bartleet TransCapital encompasses the non-banking financial services companies in the Bartleet Group
led by Eraj Wijesinghe, a former Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange. Bartleet TransCapital has
interests in stock broking, financial services, independent investment advisory, equity research, online
trading, life insurance advisory and Asset Management. Bartleet Mallory Stock Brokers (Pvt) Limited
was established in 1989 and is one of the pioneering members of Colombo Stock Exchange. The
company has a wide retail base with a large number of registered CDS accounts. It is ranked among the
top few stock broking firms in Sri Lanka by market share and has a well spread network across the island.

How Sri lanka stock market works?

Please visit Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) web site at http://www.cse.lk. It gives most of the information that one need to know to enter into Stock Market. From your wording it looks like you are not in Sri Lanka.
It is good to read the section at Getting Started --> Foreign Investment in Shares.

Basically there are more than 230 companies divided into 20 different sectors. Investing in CSE stocks is investing (buying shares) in one of the 230 odd companies. There is only one equity fund listed in CSE.

You can read most of the information (quarterly financial reports, Annual reports, major announcements) about each company via CSE web site
Trading is open from 09:30 to 14:30 hrs. (Local time) from Monday to Friday except on public and Bank holidays.
Each investor has to register with one of the broker companies. There are more than 15 broker companies that allow to trade via Internet where ever you are. You can register with more than one company and is free as at this day. Few companies use versatile more informative programs to interact with CSE. To my knowledge Asia Securities (Pvt) Ltd. http://www.asiacapital.lk and Asha Phillip Securities (Pvt) Ltd. http://www.ashaphillip.net facilitate to trade using DirectFM (you can read more in the Internet) client program to trade. You can do your technical analysis at any time of the day. Many other broker firms use a client program called CDAX and some of them have web base trading facility too.

Each trade will cost you about 1.02% as various taxes and commissions. As at these days CSE have introduced a new rule where each company share price can only vary 10% from the previous day closing price.

Good luck.

Advice from vpwvpw
for a question ask by sunny in investnow.lk

MPI & ASPI passed 6000 points

During the holiday shortened week the All Share Price Index (ASPI) increased 142.92 points to close at a new all time high of 6023.41 points, while the Milanka Price Index (MPI) also increased by 211.50 points to a new high of 6278.31 points. The daily average turnover was SLRs.4.3bn compared to SLRs.3bn last week and the week ended with foreign buying amounting to SLRs.1.9bn whilst foreign selling was SLRs.4.4bn.


The week started off on a negative note with both indices recording losses on Monday.
However the market picked up towards the end of the week with both the ASPI
& MPI recording gains on Wednesday & Thursday. Both the MPI & ASPI passed
6000 points on Thursday. The ASPI recorded an increase of 60.79points (1.02%)
WoW to close at 6023.41 points. The liquid MPI also jumped 125.38points (2.04%)
WoW to close at 6066.81points.



The market will continue its upsurge at a more moderate phase in the coming week, despite possible profit taking by investors on counters which have reported unprecedented growth in price in the recent week.

Share index rose to a new record

Sri Lanka shares hit new peak amid new SEC rule

Sept 1 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's benchmark share index rose to a new record on Wednesday, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered listed companies to immediately disclose related party transactions.

Institutional and foreign investors have long clamoured for prompter disclosure of insider dealings, amid complaints of manipulation. Previously, related-party transactions were only only required disclosure in annual reports.

According to the ruling issued after trading closed on Wednesday, immediate disclosure is required for any related-party transaction which exceeds 10 percent of equity or 5 percent of total corporate assets.