Business
Excessive share price increases in low-float stocks warrant effective oversight: analysts

By Hiran H.Senewiratne
Trading activities at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) indicated mixed reactions yesterday while low- float company LOLC Development Finance and Nestle Lanka dominated the market, stock market analysts said.
“The market managed to remain positive as those companies attributed in a positive way. However, this development calls for some regulatory control for low- float companies that would make unexpected price appreciation, otherwise it would give a wrong picture about the stock market”, stock market analysts said.
All Share Price Index up by 11.27 points and S and P SL20 down by 19.66 points. Turnover stood at Rs 1.95 billion with two crossings. Those crossings were reported in Alliance Finance, which crossed 1.2 million shares to the tune of Rs 90.6 million and its share price traded at Rs 75.50 and Lion Brewery 100,000 shares crossed for Rs 54 million and its share price traded at Rs 540.
In the retail market, top five companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were Nestle Rs 257.3 million (214,600 shares traded), LOLC Rs 148.4 million (352,700 shares traded), Browns Investment Rs 122 million (19.7 million shares traded), Expolanka Rs 105.6 million (2.1 million shares traded) and Royal Ceramic Rs 93.5 million (2.53 million shares traded),
During the day LOLC Development Finance contribution to the turnover was Rs 835,000 from trading of 4125 shares. The contribution to the All Share Price Index was 22 points. Its share price startered trading at Rs 164 at the end of the day it moved to Rs 205. This was a 35 percent or Rs 41 increase. Other low float companies are Nestle and Associated motor Finance. Nestle share price started trading at Rs 1118.75 at the end of the day it shot up to Rs 1200, which was Rs 81.25 or seven percent price appreciation The company contributed 10 points to the All Share Price Index.
Associated Motor Finance witnessed 50 percent price appreciation, without any price sensitive reasons. Its share started trading at Rs 414.75 and at the end of the day it moved up to Rs 622. During the day 62.5 million share volume changed hands in 18865 transactions.
Business
Share investors worried over Wealth and Heritage tax

By Hiran H Senewiratne
CSE trading kicked off on a positive note yesterday but the momentum could not be sustained for long owing to investor worries that the government is planning domestic debt restructuring involving the imposition of a wealth and heritage tax on citizens, market sources said.
Amid those developments both indices moved downwards. The All -Share Price Index went down by 131 points and S and P SL-20 declined by 46.8 points. Turnover stood at Rs 3.4 billion with four crossings. Those crossings were reported in Agalawattte Plantations, which crossed 45.3 million shares to the tune of Rs 1.5 billion, its shares traded at Rs 35, CTC 420,000 shares crossed for Rs 269 million and its shares traded at Rs 640, Cargills 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 24.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 245 and Hayleys 300,000 shares crossed for Rs 24 million; its shares traded at Rs 80.
In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, SLT Rs 234 million (two million shares traded), Hayleys RS 121 million (1.5 million shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 106 million (115,000 shares traded), Softlogic Capital Rs 69 million (5.6 million shares traded), CTC Rs 65.3 million (101,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank RS 54.7 million (one million shares traded) and Commercial Bank RS 52.5 million (801,000 shares traded).During the day 164 million share volumes changed hands in 20000 transactions.
Business
Brandix ‘RightToRead’ initiative gains momentum enriching Sri Lanka students and transforming learning

Inspired by the challenge to provide Sri Lankan children with better access to learning materials and the transformative power to read and comprehend English, Brandix launched the ‘RightToRead’ project in 2018 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
Accordingly, Brandix introduced the ‘ReadToMe’ English learning tool, created by English Helper – India, to improve reading and comprehension skills of Sri Lankan students. Last Monday, Julie Chung, the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, visited Susamayawardhana Vidyalaya in Borella, to observe progress of the project and experience how children and educators in Sri Lanka engage with educational technology.
Brandix Lanka Limited, Director, Ajit Johnpillai, said: “Education is the most powerful tool to enrich communities and futures, and Brandix is committed to build a strong foundation for transformational learning for students across Sri Lanka. The progress we have made with RiteToRead over the past two years is promising, and the potential for change in the education sector harnessing such digital technologies is immeasurable. Brandix will continue its commitment to deliver Inspired Solutions for the people of Sri Lanka.”
Business
Dialog TV Boosts Resilience and Capacity with Norsat Satellite Earth Station

Hytera, a leading global provider of professional communications technologies and solutions, is proud to announce the successful deployment of a new backup satellite station for Dialog TV, Sri Lanka’s No.1 satellite Pay TV service provider. The project was fulfilled in 2022 by Hytera and its subsidiary specialized in Satellite Communications (SatCom), Norsat International Inc. The new station enhances the resilience and capacity of Dialog TV’s existing system and ensures continuity of service in the event of damage due to natural disasters.
Dialog TV provides coverage over the entirety of Sri Lanka through the Intelsat 38 Ku-band satellite. As the business expanded, it opted for a backup solution to support its existing satellite station and to strengthen the network’s disaster tolerance.
Hytera and Norsat provided an end-to-end satellite earth station solution that includes the installation, integration, and setup of satellite antennas, a transmission and receiving system, a new network management system (NMS), and a carrier monitoring system (CMS). The NMS makes routine work easier and simpler for on-duty staff, as equipment status, parameter monitoring and configuration, and remote control of the devices can be viewed and accomplished via a single interface. The CMS monitors the carrier spectrum status of satellite signals in real-time and ensures stable signal transmission and receiving.
“We are excited to have been able to work with Dialog TV on this important project,” said Kevin Sun, Sales Director for Hytera South Asia, “Our ability to seamlessly integrate our new equipment and software with Dialog TV’s existing systems has helped to ensure a stable and reliable service for their millions of customers across Sri Lanka.”
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