Bukit’s rise threatens JKH’s kingship in Bourse

* Carson's main shareholder  short of Rs. 25 b to dethrone premier blue chip as most valuable corporate

* Bukit’s value rockets by 81% or Rs. 70.3 b to Rs. 157 b in just four days

* Ceylon Guardian joins top 20 as Carson trio now accounts for 13% of Colombo’s market cap

* Bourse’s year to date return tops 17%, Market Cap tops Rs. 2.6 trillion

THE meteoric rise of Bukit Darah is threatening to dethrone Sri Lanka’s premier blue chip JKH as the most valuable company with the Colombo Bourse enjoying almost a Carson Group-centric flavour.

As per analysts if Bukit today gains the way it did yesterday and JKH remains lackluster, the former might enjoy the coveted position as the most valuable.

Bukit saw its price rise by Rs. 344.50 or 29% to close at Rs. 1,1540.20 after touching a peak of Rs. 1,599.90 with 102,900 shares traded. This pushed its market capitalisation to Rs. 157.1 billion, around Rs. 25 billion below JKH’s value of Rs. 182.1 billion.

In just four market days or since 9 February, Bukit’s value had rocketed by 81% or Rs. 70.3 billion.

Related party Carson also continued its rise, up by Rs. 128 or 21% to Rs. 729.80 with a market capitalisation of Rs. 143.3 billion.

Joining the bull run was Ceylon Guardian which moved to the elite top 20 league at number 18 with a market capitalisation of Rs. 36.65 billion after its share price gained by 45% or Rs. 138 to close at Rs. 446.50. The three Carson Group companies were worth Rs. 337 billion or 13% of the total market capitalisation. Interestingly seven out of the top 10 gainers percentage wise were Carson Group and related companies.

JKH closed 2010 with a market cap of Rs. 185.75 billion and Bukit Darah was Rs. 90.27 billion. Carson's figure was Rs. 100.5 billion. Ceylon Guardian closed 2010 with a market cap of Rs. 18.87 billion.

Carson Group firms’ rise saw All Share Index (ASI) gain by 225 points and its year to date return to top 17.7%. However Milanka Index dipped marginally. Turnover was a robust Rs. 5.28 billion whilst the market capitalisation crossed the Rs. 2.6 trillion mark.

Last week’s star and Colombo’s most expensive stock Watapota or Guardian Capital lost steam yesterday when its share price dipped by 12.6% or Rs. 1,262.50 to close at Rs. 8,750 with just 200 shares traded.

Whilst locals chased after second tier, low value and previously underperforming stocks, foreign play centered mostly on HNB (see box story) and Dialog. The latter saw 20.48 million shares traded for Rs. 247.7 million including crossings of 10 million shares at Rs. 12.20 each.

Box

Foreign fund picks up 2% stake of HNB for Rs. 1.6 b

A foreign fund yesterday picked up 4 million shares or 2% stake for an estimated Rs. 1.6 billion.

It bought the stake from another foreign fund, Jupitor based in London.

HNB saw a total of 4.3 million shares traded for Rs. 1.75 billion between a high of Rs. 410 and a low of Rs. 395 before closing at Rs. 408.80, up by Rs. 10.60. Of the trades were crossings of 3.65 million shares at Rs. 410 each.

Analysts speculated the reason for Jupitor’s exit to the fact that HNB had remained almost static since it bought the stake in October 2010.

Last week it moved up by Rs. 8.20 whilst its 52-week highest has been Rs. 445.

HVA Foods shares debut today

HVA Foods Ltd. will have its debut on the Colombo Stock Exchange today following the massive 23 times oversubscription of its Initial Public Offer last month.

Approximately 66.4 million shares of HVA Foods would be listed on the Diri Savi Board and classified under the Beverage, Food and Tobacco Sector.

In January HVA Lanka offered a 30% stake or 19.928 million shares at an attractively priced Rs. 16 each. The Rs. 319 million worth IPO drew applications worth Rs. 7.4 billion reflecting an oversubscription of 23 times.