Solid start for Access Engineering on Bourse

Wednesday, 28 March 2012 01:17 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Share price of debutant peaks to Rs. 29.30 before closing at Rs. 26.30; market cap of Rs. 26.3 b makes it most valuable in Construction and Engineering sector and 17th overall

Colombo stock market debutant Access Engineering Ltd. (AEL) yesterday produced a solid start, with its share price peaking to Rs. 29.30 before closing at Rs. 26.30, up by Rs. 1.30 from its IPO price.

The credible performance propelled AEL to the most valuable stock in the four firms in the Construction and AEL Chairman Sumal Perera (fifth from left) was present on the floor of the CSE to witness the debut along with senior executives of the company and managers to the issue, NDB Investment Bank. Engineering sector as well as the 17th most valuable overall with a market capitalisation of Rs. 26.3 billion. The other three companies in the Construction and Engineering sector are Colombo Dockyard, MTD Walkers and Lankem Developments.

In total AEL saw 1.22 million shares transacted via 786 trades for Rs. 33.2 million, which was the fourth highest turnover.

AEL got off the blocks with the first trade amounting to 44.200 shares at Rs. 26, whilst the last trade was 500 shares at Rs. 25.90. Notable blocks included 140,800 shares at Rs. 28 each and 110,110 shares at Rs. 26.

Analysts said AEL’s debut exceeded market expectations given the fact that the Rs. 500 million IPO saw only an oversubscription of 1.5 times with less participation from retailers. AEL’s IPO, the first for 2012, made available a 2% stake or 20 million ordinary shares at Rs. 25 each.

AEL Chairman Sumal Perera was present on the floor of the CSE to witness the debut along with senior executives of the company and managers to the issue, NDB Investment Bank.

Prior to the IPO, AEL raised Rs. 4.5 billion in June 2011 through an issue of shares where the minimum investment was Rs. 10 million.

Funds raised via the IPO, which was themed ‘A New Hope,’ will be used to partly finance the working capital requirements of a housing project to the value of Rs. 3 billion undertaken by the company on behalf of the UDA.

AEL was also the first construction company pioneered by Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to be listed on CSE.

Established in 2001, Access Engineering Limited has established itself as a leading construction company offering innovative value engineering solutions comprising design, procurement, construction and commissioning of numerous multidisciplinary engineering projects for both the Government and the private sector of Sri Lanka.

Over this short span of existence, Access Engineering has carved out a name and stature for itself in the construction and engineering sector of the country, which has resulted in the company seeing continuous unprecedented growth while leveraging proficiency and competencies it possesses to generate value for its stakeholders. It has also in its short period of existence won many construction industry and national business excellence awards.