Access Engineering IPO oversubscribed within hours of opening

Access Engineering Ltd. yesterday announced that its Rs. 500 million IPO was oversubscribed within a few hours of opening.

As the IPO was oversubscribed, the subscription list closed on 6 March 2012, the official day of opening of the IPO, according to the regulations laid down by the Colombo Stock Exchange.

The company issued 20 million ordinary voting shares to the public at Rs. 25 each, amounting to a 2% stake of the company, post IPO.

The theme of the offer, ‘A New Hope,’ created much hype, excitement and enthusiasm among the general public, high net worth individuals and foreign investors as evident from the overwhelming response and number of applications received for the issue.  Speaking about the success of the IPO, Access Engineering Chairman Sumal Perera said: “We were fully confident that the issue would be oversubscribed on the opening day due to the overwhelming response we had from investors. I sincerely thank all those who placed their confidence in us and have invested.

We will make all endeavours to maintain it by taking the company to greater heights and ensure attractive returns to the shareholders, perhaps exceeding their expectations.”

NDB Investment Banking Cluster CEO Vajira Kulatilaka commenting on the positive response received for the IPO, said: “We are happy to have witnessed the successful oversubscription of the first IPO for the year. This bears evidence for the fact that there is sufficient investor appetite for attractive sectors and stocks in our capital market such as Access Engineering in spite of the present liquidity constraints. It also augurs well for future IPOs and would be an encouraging sign for companies that intend to raise capital by listing on the CSE.”

The funds raised will now be used to partly finance the working capital requirements of a housing project to the value of Rs. 3 billion undertaken by the company on behalf of UDA. Access Engineering is now the first construction company pioneered by Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and would be within the top 20 corporates listed in terms of market capitalisation at the share issue price of Rs. 25 per share.

Established in 2001, Access Engineering Limited has established itself as a leading construction company offering innovative value engineering solutions comprising design, procurement, construction and commissioning of numerous multi disciplinary engineering projects for both the Government and the private sector of Sri Lanka.

Over this short span of existence, Access Engineering has carved out a name and stature for itself in the construction and engineering sector of the country which has resulted in the company seeing continuous unprecedented growth while leveraging proficiency and competencies it possesses to generate value for its stakeholders. It has also in its short period of existence, won many construction industry and national business excellence awards.



Significant drop...

Meanwhile, vegetable and fruit exporters are reported to be having discussions with State and non-governmental institutions about the export of excess vegetables and fruits.

The Ministry said a program would be launched to purchase the excess vegetables soon and that the glut had mainly resulted due to the Divi Neguma program and the fertiliser subsidy being given for vegetable cultivation.

The Ministry is also to launch a program to enlighten vegetable growers on cultivating one vegetable in each area to avoid markets getting flooded with certain varieties of vegetables.



Lanka-Bangla...

When President Rajapaksa visited the President to Dhaka in April 2011, both countries recognised that the Bangladesh Sri-Lanka Joint Economic Commission was an effective mechanism to further enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries and agreed that the fourth session of the Joint Economic Commission should be held as soon as possible.

Both sides agreed that the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, though showing positive trends, was far below the potential and did not reflect the cordial political relations. It was agreed that the two countries would undertake measures for trade facilitation, including identification and removal of non-tariff barriers and simplification and harmonisation of mutually-recognised standards.

According to the Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka’s exports to Bangladesh have shown a healthy and steady growth during the eight years that ended in 2010. The total value exports in 2010 stood at US$ 35.54 million, showing a 36% growth compared to 2009. In 2011, it topped 46.32 million, while imports in the same year registered 24 million, thereby showing a positive trade balance for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s major exports to Bangladesh were dyed woven fabric of cotton, articles of plastics, narrow woven fabric with rubber thread, enzymes, coral and similar materials, petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, dye carriers, trailers and semi-trailers and printed paper.



Bangladesh to...

“The agreement would stand valid initially for 25 years, but its tenure may be enhanced,” Azad said.

He said the cost of the imported electricity at consumer level will be 5.0 taka per unit against between 12 and 16 taka a unit for power generated domestically by using imported oil.

Most power plants in Bangladesh are run with natural gas, supply of which is depleting fast, forcing the Government to turn to fuel despite its high price in international markets.

Currently, Bangladesh has an installed capacity of producing over 7,600 MW of electricity, which is expected to go up to 21,000 MW by 2021, officials said.

“But we cannot produce at that level due to lack of natural gas and also for a number of worn out plants,” Azad said.

The country now faces a daily shortfall of up to 1,500 MW of electricity against the demand of more than 6,000 MW.



Rupee firmer...

The main share index edged up 0.24 per cent or 12.86 points to hit 5,477.67.

The day’s turnover was Rs. 441.4 million ($ 3.62 million) well below last year’s daily average of 2.3 billion. The day’s volume was 17.3 million. Last year’s daily average was a record 102.7 million.

Foreign investors bought shares worth Rs. 983,963, extending the offshore net foreign inflow to Rs. 2.73 billion so far this year, after a net outflow of 19.1 billion last year.

The Colombo Bourse is one of the worst performers this year among Asian markets, with a 9.82 per cent loss while the majority has had positive returns.

Stock and foreign exchange markets will be closed on Wednesday due to Poya holiday. Normal trading will resume on Thursday.



Information of...

The department says that these illegally remaining foreigners are not only a threat to national security, but are also harmful to the cultural and environmental concerns of the country.

It has also requested information from the general public on foreigners who indulge in illegal activities.

It also points out that stern legal action can be taken against those who support and encourage such foreigners to remain in the country, after the expiration of their visas.