Bonds & Forex

Sri Lanka’s JKH net down in March quarter

Wednesday May 24, 2023 6:37 am

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s diversified John Keells Holdings group, has reported profits of 3.3 billion rupees in the March 2023 quarter, down 70 percent from a year earlier, when one off items boosted numbers, interim accounts showed.

The group reported earnings of 2.39 rupees per share. For the year to March, earnings were 13.12 rupees per share on total profits of 18.1 billion rupees, which were up 10 percent.

In the March 2023 quarter, revenue fell 11 percent to 67.8 billion rupees, cost of sales fell 8 percent to 54.8 billion rupees and gross profits fell 20 percent to 12.9 billion rupees.

Finance costs went up 151 percent to 5.4 billion rupees, while finance income fell 84 percent to 3.4 billion rupees.

Sri Lanka’s rupee collapsed in March 2022 after two years of money printing, pushing up forex gains while in 2023 the rupee appreciated on complementary monetary policy and a collapse in private credit.

“The Group saw a challenging quarter on account of the macroeconomic environment, given the decline in consumer discretionary spending and the lagged effects of the working capital buildup which placed pressure on margins,” the firm told shareholders.

“The working capital pressures have now eased significantly while the reduction in certain input costs, the appreciation of the Rupee and the reduction in global commodity prices have begun to positively impact margins.

In 2022, recognition of profits of Cinnamon Life apartments also boosted profits, the firm told shareholders.

Bunkering profits were down as higher margins and oil prices fell.

Consumer foods sector profits fell as discretionary spending fell, but input costs were now falling, improving margins.

“The Supermarket business recorded a marginal growth in profitability driven by a growth in same store sales.

Profitability was off-set to a large extent due to cost escalations compared to the previous quarter, including the newly introduced revenue-based tax of the social security contribution levy and electricity tariff increases, amongst others,” JKH said.

“Despite the growth in the Supermarket business, the Retail industry group recorded a decline in profitability due to the Office Automation business.”

Hotels in Maldives showed a strong recovery and Sri Lankan hotels also started to recover. (Colombo/Mar24/2023)

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Markets

Sri Lanka’s shares slip on profit taking and selling pressure

Wednesday June 7, 2023 5:18 pm

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s shares closed lower on Wednesday after four consecutive gains in previous sessions spiraled into selling interest and profit taking, an analyst said.

The main All Share Price Index was down 0.28 percent or 24.39 points to 8,722.06, this is the lowest the index has been since May 02, while the most liquid index S&P SL20 was down 0.40 percent or 9.92 points to 2,468.44.

“The market was gaining in the previous sessions and there is selling and profit taking present today, due to continuously being on green,” an analyst said.

In the previous sessions the market was seeing gains, due to lowered policy rates and low inflation stimulating buying interest and driving the sentiment up, an analyst said.

Sri Lanka’s inflation in the 12-months to May 2023 has eased to 25.2 percent from 35.3 percent a month earlier according to a revised Colombo Consumer Price Index calculated by the state statistics office.

The central bank cut the key policy rates by 250 basis points to spur a faltering economic growth as inflation was decelerating faster than it projected.

“There are gradual improvements in the market sentiment, with positive sentiments coming in from lowered policy rates and inflation,” an analyst said.

The market generated foreign inflows of 12 million rupees and received a net foreign inflow of 18 million rupees, due to low share prices and discounted shares followed by a dividend announcement.

The market generated a revenue of 554 million rupees, this is the lowest the turnover has been since May 10, while the daily turnover average was 1 billion rupees. From the total generated revenue, the banking sector contributed 120 million rupees, Diversified Banks contributed 115 million rupees and the Capital Goods Industry generated 78 million rupees.

Top losers during trade were Sampath Bank, Commercial Bank and Aitken Spence. (Colombo/June06/2023)

Bonds & Forex

Sri Lanka Treasuries yields plunge, 12-month down 318bp

Wednesday June 7, 2023 4:04 pm

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Treasuries yields plunged across maturities at Wednesday’s auction with the 12-month yield falling 318 basis points, in one of the biggest one day falls, data from the state debt office showed.

The 3-month yield fell 244 basis points to 23.21 percent.

The 6-mont yield fell 339 basis points to 21.90 percent, along with the 12 months to 19.10 percent.

The short-term yield curve is inverted.

The central bank last week cut its policy rate 250 basis points in a signaling move but is not printing money to enforce the rate cut.

The debt office sold all 140 billion rupees of offered securities. (Colombo/June07/2023)

Bonds & Forex

Sri Lanka forex reserves rise US$722mn in May 2023

Wednesday June 7, 2023 3:48 pm

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves grew 722 million US dollars to 3,483 million US dollars in May 2023 from 2,761 million US dollars in April, official data showed as deflationary policy and weak credit reduced ‘above the line’ outflows.

Sri Lanka lost almost all its reserve in over two years as the central bank sold reserves and printed money to keep rates down (sterilized reserves sales) including borrowed dollars from India.

Gross official reserves fell to a low of 1,705 million US dollars in September 2022.

Sri Lanka’s central bank hiked rates in April 2022 to slow credit and also stopped printing money after it ran out of borrowed Asian Clearing Union dollars from India.

Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves are made up of both monetary reserves of the central bank and any balances of the Treasury account from loans or grants it gets.

The central bank’s net foreign reserves are still negative after busting up borrowed reserves to suppress rates. By April (before the collection of reserves in May) the central bank’s net reserves were negative by 3.7 billion US dollars.

In May alone 662 million US dollars were bought from the market, Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said.

Borrowing dollars through swaps and busting them up, was invented by the US Federal Reserve as it was printing money and breaking the Bretton Woods system in the early 1970s.

Sri Lanka received a 350 million US dollar tranche from the Asian Development Bank and 331 million US dollars from the IMF to the Treasury for budget support.

The loans can be sold to the central bank by the government to generate rupees and spend. However, since credit is weak, not all the inflows go out of the country particularly as the central bank is conducting deflationary open market operations on a net basis.

By allowing the rupee to appreciate unlike in previous episodes of recovery in an IMF program, after a bout of money printing, the central bank is bringing down inflation – in some cases absolute prices – and restoring confidence and easing the ‘pain’ of ‘monetary policy’ or stimulus.

Related

Why is Sri Lanka’s rupee appreciating?

Though exports are falling, tourism revenues are also picking up.

The budget support loans, tourism receipts less the reserve collected will widen the trade deficit. Building foreign reserves involves lending money to the US or other western nations and is similar to repaying foreign debt. (Colombo/June07/2023)