SMB Leasing gets in-principle nod from CBSL for finance biz licence

SMB Leasing PLC said yesterday that it had received Central Bank (CBSL) in-principle approval to issue a finance business licence. 

The licence is subject to SMB Leasing completing the pay-off of public deposits and purchase of certain assets of a finance company at a value of Rs. 425.3 million under the Masterplan for Consolidation of Non-Bank Financial Institutions of the CBSL.

Despite the positive news, SMB Leasing voting share yesterday closed at Rs. 1.70, down by 5.5%.

However, on Tuesday the share price hit a new high of Rs. 2.20 before closing at Rs. 1.80 with 129.7 million shares traded. 

Last week too SMB Leasing voting share touched an all-time high of Rs. 1.80 before closing at Rs. 1.50, up by 70 cents from the previous week. It saw 700.5 million shares changing hands via 5,490 trades for Rs. 953 million turnover. Business leader Ravi Wijeratne holds a 65% voting stake in SMB Leasing.

In October, SMB said that strengthened with over Rs. 3 billion in capital it was preparing for higher growth with improved prospects for some of its core business, as well as seeking fresh opportunities via new products.

The company benefited from a fresh capital infusion of over Rs. 2 billion recently following a Rights Issue.

Apart from returning to profitability, SMB has also succeeded in having its capital above the Central Bank requirement (including for licenced finance companies) of Rs. 2.5 billion, propelling itself to among the top three most capitalised leasing companies, with a figure of Rs. 3.2 billion. Within the Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI) sector, SMB Leasing is now within the top 10 in terms of stated capital and top 20 as per core capital.