Finco exits from Hayleys at hefty profit; HNWIs enter

• Over 31 m shares of export-rich diversified bluechip trade for Rs. 4 b

Finco Holdings Ltd. yesterday exited from export-rich diversified Hayleys PLC at hefty profit as high net worth individual investors entered seeing future value.

Hayleys yesterday saw 31.7 million of its shares change hands via 3,945 trades for Rs. 4 billion, accounting for nearly half of Colombo stock market’s turnover. Hayleys share price closed at Rs. 128.75, up by 3.6% or Rs. 4.50. Last week Hayleys closed at Rs. 113.75, up by Rs. 6.25 with 4.7 million shares traded. 

Finco as at 30 September held 23.4 million shares. Hayleys saw 73 crossings amounting to 23.3 million shares at Rs. 125 each. 

The volume of business leader Dhammika Perera-controlled Hayleys shares traded yesterday confirms the market recycled trading. Perera controls over 51% stake in Hayleys. 

Daily FT learns several high net worth individual investors such as Imtiaz Buhardeen and Dr. T. Senthilverl were among the buyers.

Deals on Hayleys apart, the bourse remained lacklustre, recording its second consecutive day of decline. The All Share Price Index dipped by 76 points or 0.6% and S&P SL 20 shed over 20 points or 0.5%. Turnover was Rs. 8.4 billion involving 234 million shares.

Asia Securities said the indices remained in red territory as index-heavy EXPO and LOLC continued recording price declines due to mild-profit taking activities executed by local investors ahead of the holiday season. 

“On the back of 73 block-trade transactions, HAYL topped the turnover list with Rs. 3.9 billion (turnover generated from block trades Rs. 2.9 billion), followed by EXPO (Rs. 1.1 billion) and BIL (Rs. 282 million). Apart from EXPO and LOLC, volatile stocks LOFC and CLC also recorded price losses and weighed significantly on the index’s movement throughout the session. Overall, 70 stocks recorded price gains while 126 ended lower,” Asia added. 

It said foreigners recorded a net outflow of Rs. 298.4 million while their participation increased to 2.2% of turnover (previous day 1.2%). Net foreign buying topped in HAYL at Rs. 7.6 million while net selling topped in JKH at Rs. 136 million. 

First Capital said the Bourse receded further in the red zone as a bearish sentiment took over although turnover was maintained at a healthy level mainly driven by the 73 cross trades of HAYL contributing to 35% of the total turnover. 

“The Index moved positively as soon as the market opened but started to decline in a couple of minutes and plummeted further steeply hitting an intraday low of 11,631 as investors continued their profit-taking. Subsequently, the index displayed a slight recovery during the latter part of the session yet failed to recover the losses and ended up closing for the day at 11,679,” First Capital added. 

It said turnover was led by a joint contribution of 71% from the Capital Goods sector and Transportation sector. 

NDB Securities said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Hayleys, John Keells Holdings and Sampath Bank. Mixed interest was observed in Expolanka Holdings, Commercial Bank and ACL Cables whilst retail interest was noted in SMB Leasing voting, SMB Leasing non-voting and Browns Investments.