Emagewise, Nimal, Cargo Boat pick up AHUN

Friday, 1 July 2011 03:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Hot on the heels of EPF increasingly turning savvy on Aitken Spence parent and hotel subsidiary, more joined in yesterday picking up sizeable quantities of the latter.

Around 2.5 million shares of Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings traded yesterday for Rs. 192 million including at a high of Rs. 83.50 before closing at Rs. 75.70, up by 70 cents.

Dilith Jayaweera and Varuni Amunugama Fernando-fame Emagewise had bought 1 million shares of AHUN with high networth investor Nimal Perera picking up 500,000 shares whilst Cargo Boat Development had bought around 650,000 and Thurston Investments chipping in with around 275,000.

Last month Emagwise connected party Kalpitiya Resort Hotels collected some shares of AHUN too as part of portfolio investments.

Main sellers of AHUN were Ceybank Unit Trusts funds, which were also on the selling side on Wednesday when 3.4 million shares were bought by EPF increasing its stake to 8% on top of 2.9 million shares of Aitken Spence and Company thereby increasing the holding to 6.4%. A foreign fund had also sold around 750,000 AHUN shares yesterday.

Deals on AHUN accounted for the biggest share of a relatively low turnover of Rs. 1.8 billion yesterday as the market remained depressed.

NDB Stockbrokers said ASPI declined further while the MPI also closed lower. “However, some of the earlier losses were recouped towards end of trading with increased interest in speculative counters. The lackluster sentiment was witnessed in low volumes and turnover level. The beginning of the second half of the year next week may provide a boost to the market,” NDB added.

Bank, Finance and Insurance sector was the main contributor to the market turnover (due to Central Finance, Swarnamahal Financial Services), while the sector index increased by 0.11%.

Hotels and Travels sector also contributed significantly to the market turnover (due to Aitken Spence Hotels). The sector index increased 0.16%.

Aitken Spence Hotels was the main contributor to the market turnover, with 2,425,000 shares exchanging hands for Rs. 75.00 each in five crossings. The share gained Rs. 0.70 (0.93%) and closed at Rs. 75.00. Distilleries also contributed significantly to the market turnover. The share dropped Rs. 0.20 (0.11%) and closed at Rs. 179.00.