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Friday, 6 January 2012 02:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
For the beleaguered Colombo stock market, there is something to cheer as funds raised by corporate Sri Lanka via the Bourse last year hit an unprecedented all time high of Rs. 47.17, up by 65%, whilst the number of new investors almost doubled.
As per data released by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) yesterday, the amount raised via Rights Issue last year was Rs. 28.01 billion, up from Rs. 24.3 billion in 2010. Money raised via Initial Public Offering (IPOs) was Rs. 19.1 billion, up from Rs. 4.3 billion.
Both form of fund raising were a record whilst the combined figure too hit an all time high of Rs. 47.17 billion, up by Rs. 18.5 billion or 65% over 2010.
This higher fund raising was supported by 13 IPOs as against 8 in 2010 whilst overall listings grew to 272 from 242. Last year saw 16 equity introductions as against 2 in 2010.
Another positive development was the high increase in new investors. The number of new CDS accounts opened last year was 112,473, almost double the figure opened in 2010 of 57,283.
Reflecting an almost half a million, the number of local individuals as at 31, December 2011 was 492,734, up from 410,936. Local individuals were the most active class of investors increasing their contribution to turnover to 54.6% out of Rs. 546.2 billion from 44% in 2010 whereas all other classes declined.
The high growth in local individual investor base helped propel the total number of securities accounts to top the half a million mark, at 508,014, up from 424,288 in 2010. Accounts operated by local companies rose to 7,321 from 6,114.
Though the market suffered a Rs. 19 billion net outflow, the number of non-national accounts had grown. Foreign individuals category rose to 3,847 from 3,345 and companies improved to 4,112 from 3,893. However foreign investor contribution to total turnover was down to 10.9% from 18.5% in 2010, with biggest drop coming from foreign companies – 8.3% versus 15.3% in 2010.
Baring some of these positive features, rest of the indicators of 2011 at CSE reflected the overall dip. The ASI declined by 8.5% registering its first dip in three years after 2010 saw 96% gain and 2009 a record 125% increase. Equity turnover was lower too at Rs. 546.2 billion, as against Rs. 570.3 billion with domestic component increase to Rs. 487 billion from Rs. 464.7 billion and foreign almost halved to Rs. 59 billion from Rs. 1066 billion.
Though turnover dipped, number of shares transacted rose to 24.5 billion up from 18.5 billion with increases in both domestic and foreign. Number of trades rose to 4.58 billion from 3.35 billion.
Market capitalization remained almost flat at Rs. 2.2 billion whilst turnover to market capitalization declined to 24.7% from 34.5%. Market’s Price Earnings Ratio was down to 15.8 times from 25.2 times in 2010 whilst Price to Book Value was 2 times in comparison to 3 times and dividend yield amounted to 1.8% in comparison to 1.2%.
