Sri Lanka bourse to in bid to boost listings

Aug 22, 2013 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's stock exchange is inviting more firms to list and has published a guide to the listing process to assist prospective companies who want to explore go public, officials said.

Sri Lanka saw a flood of new listings during a stock market bubble up to 2011, but then interest waned. But the market has since started to stabilize.

"We are seeing an increase in inquiries again," Colombo Stock Exchange chairman Krishan Balendra said.

"Since the boom that we saw valuations have been low.

"For corporate debt listings we are seeing a flood of inquiries."

In 2011, 29 companies had listed equity and 5 firms debt, the CSE said. In 2012, 17 companies had listed equity and 6 companies had listed debt.

Balendra said the fees charged by the CSE to list was only 150,000 rupees and annual fees were only 50,000.

'A guide to listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange', a has been published by the bourse giving an overview of the listing process, ranging from what company owners should consider before going public to what they can expect after a listing.

Companies that list before April 2014 with minimum public float of 20 percent will only have to pay 50 percent of corporate income tax for that year and another two years if the public holding is maintained.

Interest on listed debt has also been removed and there had been a flood of listings.

So far this year 10 debt issues have raised 24 billion rupees.
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/news/sri-lanka-bourse-to-in-bid-to-boost-listings/462778669

We don't want more companies stealing our hard earned money. The recent IPO companies are blood suckers.
Eg: PCH, CIFL, SHL

I will not invest in any IPO. It will definitely crash within a few days of listing and you can buy at a discounted price if you wait.

Introductory method of listing reintroduced to bourse
By Amrith Gunasekara


Sri Lanka's stock market regulator – Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will reintroduce the method of listing companies by way of an 'Introduction' to Colombo Bourse, officials told Ceylon FT in the sidelines of a conference in Colombo.
Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Dr. Nalaka Godahewa said that 'Introduction' method of listing company shares that existed before will be reintroduced to the market with certain amendments.

"Unlike before, there will be certain amendments that will be made in terms of public holding percentage of a company, issued share capital, and it will be reintroduced," Godahewa said adding that discussions are ongoing on the implementation and it may be released as a 'directive' after three months from now on.


He added that now the SEC deliberately takes several discussion rounds before implementing any directive with feedback from CSE as well as SEC officials and the industry stakeholders. Prior to
Dr. Godahewa's appointment earlier SEC had amended several directives that were issued to regulate the market.


Several companies that came into the stock market in 2011– 2012 period through the method of 'Listing by way of an Introduction' faced criticism by investors as well as market analysts as the main investors (promoters) sold their stakes during the first week listing on CSE whilst the stock prices shot up artificially going above several hundred times more than the Net Asset Values of such companies.


Later, back in March 2012, SEC informed that it has decided to delete the provisions relating to listing of equity by way of an introduction as a means of listing with effect from 1 April 2012. However that time all applications received under the category on or before 31 March 2012 was accepted.

'Introduction' method of listing allowed a company to be entitled to be admitted to the official list of the Exchange through an introduction where the company has 10% of its equity held by the public.


Meanwhile the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) announced that it has issued a publication titled A Guide to Listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange to increase awareness of potential issuers, on listing of equity and corporate debt securities on the CSE.
The compiling of this publication is an initiative of the SEC/CSE Committee on new listings (both public and private), which is one of the 10 key projects of the SEC.


Some areas covered under this publication include, considerations when planning for an IPO, the IPO process of a company seeking a listing, along with timing the market, the parties involved in an IPO, timelines involved and the regulatory and legal framework governing the same. It also outlines the opportunities and potential benefits of a company seeking a listing on the Exchange, including a list of the concessions introduced through the Government of Sri Lanka's (GoSL) 2013 budget to stimulate capital market growth.
The launch of this guide was organized by the CSE, and was held at the CSE Auditorium, where Chairman CSE Krishan Balendra presented the book to Chairman SEC Dr.Nalaka Godahewa.

Ceylon Today

with the reintroduction of "Introductions".................let the games begin.