Notable price appreciation of Hela Apparel Holdings shares

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

CSE trading activities were volatile throughout yesterday but notable price appreciation was witnessed in newly listed companies, especially Hela Apparel Holdings. The reason for the market to perform negatively was that profit- takings took place in several blue-chip companies, stock market analysts said.

Hela Apparel Holdings, the holding company of the Hela Clothing Group, ended its third quarter on a high note, having exceeded its annual performance for FY2020/21 within the first nine months of the current financial year and appreciated its share price by 24 per cent or Rs 3.60. Its share price shot up to Rs 18.60 from Rs 15.

During the day both indices moved downwards. The All Share Price Index was down by 130 points and the S and P SL20 declined by 52.9 points. Turnover stood at Rs six billion with two crossings. Those crossings were reported in JKH, which crossed two million shares to the tune of Rs 314 million, its shares traded at Rs 157 and LOLC Finance 2.6 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 73.5 million, its shares traded at Rs 28.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Hela Apparel Rs one billion (52.1 million shares traded), Commercial Leasing and Finance Rs 781 million (22.2 million shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 688 million (1.9 million shares traded), LOLC Finance Rs 470 million (16.5 million shares traded), Browns Investments Rs 219 million (14.4 million shares traded),Softlogic Holdings Rs 193 million ( 2.7 million shares traded) and Sunshine Holdings Rs 181 million (3.6 million shares traded). During the day 193 million share volumes changed hands in 59000 transactions.

It is said high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in LOLC Finance, Sunshine Holdings and Hayleys. Mixed interest was observed in Expolanka Holdings, Softlogic Life Insurance and LOLC Holdings while retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, Anilana Hotels & Properties and Renuka Agri Foods.

Yesterday the US dollar rate quoted at Rs 203.08, which was the controlled price by the Central Bank. If the IMF comes to the rescue of the economy they would advise the government to free float the dollar, which would touch more than Rs 250, market sources said.