Singer Finance shares to debut today

Singer Finance (Lanka) Limited shares commence trading on the main board of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) today after concluding a record breaking IPO.

NDB Investment Bank, the financial advisors and managers to the offering, said the IPO created history in the CSE by recording a massive oversubscription level of 135 times surpassing the previous record of 64 times the number of shares offered.

The IPO of Singer Finance, which was for 26,666,667 ordinary voting shares at Rs. 15 per share was well received amidst positive sentiments by the investor community and attracted a total quantum of funds amounting to approximately Rs. 54 billion.

Singer Finance, backed by the strength of its parent company, Singer (Sri Lanka) Plc, enjoys significant competitive advantages compared to its peers in the finance sector. One of the main factors is the island wide reach enjoyed by the company via the vast network of SINGER outlets which serve as collection points for Singer Finance customers.

The company also enjoys one of the lowest non-performing loan ratios in the industry, which stood at 1.91% as at 31 August, 2010 as disclosed in the prospectus.

This reflects the high quality of assets of Singer Finance and its effective credit management systems.

The company has been experiencing steady growth in the demand for its leasing and hire purchase products whilst its consumer durables financing product has recorded strong growth supported by the increased seasonal sales of its parent company.

Fitch Ratings (Lanka) Limited recently upgraded the credit rating of Singer Finance to ‘BBB+(lka)’ with a stable outlook. Its parent company Singer (Sri Lanka) Plc was also upgraded by Fitch Ratings to ‘A (lk)’ stable.

The board of directors of Singer Finance comprises H. D. S. Amarasuriya (Chairman), G. J. Walker, Dr. G. C. B. Wijeyesinghe, H. A. Pieris, Dr. S. Kelegama, M. P. A. Salgado, R. S. Wijeweera, S. Ramanathan (Alternate Director to G. J. Walker).