Chairman Sumal buys 1.3% of Access Engineering for Rs. 357 m

Thursday, 14 August 2014 01:12 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Chairman Sumal Perera yesterday bought into his own company Access Engineering PLC collecting around 13 million shares for Rs. 357.5 million. The market saw 16.58 million AEL shares traded for Rs. 455.6 million. The Daily FT learned that Perera bought around 13 million or 1.3% stake. The major seller was high net worth investor and low profile business leader Ajita de Zoysa’s Associated Electrical Corp.

Prior to yesterday’s purchase, Perera held a 25% stake of AEL under his name and is the largest shareholder. The price paid by him was above the IPO level. AEL accounted for the highest turnover yesterday as the stock market gathered further strength due to block deals and improved investor sentiments. Sources close to the Perera said that it was the first time that he had bought shares from the market. The net asset per share of AEL is currently Rs. 15. On Friday Access Engineering announced that top line recorded a growth of 10.5% and 6.9% respectively at company and group level. Earnings attributable to equity at company and group level were Rs. 503 million and Rs. 545 million respectively. At Group level, 84%-owned subsidiary Sathosa Motors PLC and fully-owned subsidiary Access Realties Ltd. have contributed Rs. 44 million and Rs. 36 million respectively to the bottom line. The company’s 30% owned Associate ZPMC Lanka Company Ltd., which commenced operations in September 2013, contributed Rs. 2 million to the bottom line in the quarter. The total asset base of the group stood at Rs. 20,353 million. Equity attributable to owners of the company of Rs. 15,458 million at the group level translates into a net asset per share of Rs. 15.46, a growth of 4% since 31 March 2014. The earnings per share for the quarter were Rs. 0.54 and Rs. 0.50 at the group and company levels respectively. The liquidity position of the company has improved by 12% and 19% respectively at company and group level. The Board of Directors of AEL comprises Sumal Perera (Chairman), Christopher Joshua (Managing Director), Rohana Fernando (COO), Shevantha Mendis, Dharshana Munasinghe, Ranjan Gomez, Dilhan Perera, Professor Malik Ranasinghe, Niroshan Gunarathna and Alexis Lovell.