Equity One to delist; offers Rs. 77.50 per share exit price

Tuesday, 3 November 2015 00:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shehana Dain

Equity One Plc (EQIT) has decided to delist from the Colombo Stock Exchange offering an exit price of Rs. 77.50 per share.

Majority shareholder and parent Carson Cumberbatch Plc (CARS) of EQIT made this offer yesterday via a CSE disclosure, for shareholders who wish to divest.

Carson Cumberbatch Plc holds up to 96.27% stake in the company or 38.818 million shares. The public holding is a mere 3.72% which amounts to 712 shareholders.

The 1981 established property development firm has been listed on the CSE since May 1985.

The exit price is 40% higher than the book value of the group level and 70% higher than the company level. As at June 2015 Net Asset Value (NAV) per share at group level was Rs. 45.21 up from Rs. 39.10 a year earlier and from Rs. 44.74 as at 31 March 2015. At group level NAV per share was Rs. 56.03 in June and Rs. 46.61 a year earlier and Rs. 55.63 in March 2015.

For the June quarter the stock traded at a high of Rs. 47 and a low of Rs. 40, while the market value per share was Rs. 41.70. It last traded on 30 October at Rs. 48.70.

As at June 2015 total assets of the company amounted to Rs. 2.057 billion and total liabilities were Rs. 254 million for the second quarter of FY15. Moreover total equity was 1.804 billon including retained earnings of Rs. 475 million.

For the three months ended 30 June 2015 group revenue rose by 61% to Rs. 57.679 million whilst profit declined 4% to Rs 23.814 million from 24.888 million in the same period prior year.

Earnings per share decreased to Rs. 0.55 from Rs. 0.58 in 2014.

In full year of 2014 revenue for the company stood at Rs. 97.548 million with other income soaring by 88.43% to Rs. 260 million mainly due to the 100% increase of Rs.195 million in net gains arising from fair value changes of investment properties. Profit before tax was Rs. 263.6 million up from Rs. 147 million in the previous year. Profit after tax of the company stood at Rs. 244 million up from Rs. 127 million on 2014.