Expolanka Holdings’ profit decline pushes overall share market down

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

CSE trading was negative throughout yesterday due to corporate earnings not reaching expectations. This created a negative sentiment which enabled selling pressure on main and selected stocks, market analysts said.

Shares edged down in mid- day trade after group earnings of Expolanka pushed the overall market down, an analyst observed.

Sri Lanka- based Expolanka Holdings, a logistics unit of SG Holdings of Japan, reported profits of Rs 2.9 billion for the December 2022 quarter, down 87 per cent.

“Investors expected the company to perform better than what the earnings showed as the market moved on green in November 2022, over submissions of proposals in response to calls of expressions of interest for the acquisition of certain logistic companies in international markets, keeping in line with its expansion plans, the analyst said.

Amid those developments both indices moved downwards. The All- Share Price Index went down by 59.12 points and S and P SL20 declined by 28.3 points. Turnover stood at Rs 1.6 billion with a single crossing. Asia Siyaka Commodities 22.6 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 101.7 million; its shares traded at Rs 4.50.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, Expolanka Holdings Rs 254 million (1.4 million shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 148 million (715,000 shares traded), Softlogic Life Insurance Rs 143 million (1.2 million shares traded), JKH Rs 125 million (898,000 shares traded), Softlogic Capital Rs 105.7 million (6.6 million shares traded), LOLC Finance Rs 75.7 million (10.9 million shares traded) and Browns Investments Rs 66 million (9.9 million shares traded). During the day 96 million share volumes changed hands in 16000 transactions.

Top losers in mid- day trade were Expolanka, LOLC and Sampath Bank. Life insurance counters were doing well but are not index- heavy to affect the main index, analysts said.

Sri Lanka’s economy may shrink 3.5 per cent in 2023, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said. In 2022 Sri Lanka’s economy could have shrunk as much as 11 per cent, he said.

However the economy is expected to recover by 2024, he added. Sri Lanka’s economy has a tendency to recover about 18 months after a currency crisis, as inflation flattens out and interest rates ease, giving a breathing space for people to consume and invest as budget deficits come down, observers said.