Dr. T. Senthilverl, via Senthilverl Holdings, raised his stake in Lankem Ceylon PLC to 10.09% (5.19m shares) after buying 1.94% (1.0m shares) at Rs.85 each. Lankem closed at Rs.85.80 (down Rs.1.10); Colombo Fort Land & Building PLC and related parties hold ~80%.
ASPI fell 67 points (0.4%) on low turnover of Rs.1.65bn; HNB was the largest negative contributor after its ex-dividend date, while SAMP, RICH, HAYL, HHL and SUN were top positive contributors and banks led turnover.
Darley Butler & Company (a wholly owned subsidiary of E B Creasy) bought 9,011,079 shares of Lankem Ceylon PLC at Rs90 each, raising its holding to 18.5% of the company. Lankem shares closed up 2.84% at Rs86.90.
The Colombo market closed marginally up with the ASPI +0.2% and S&P SL20 +0.4% as turnover rose to Rs.2.14bn, led by Lankem Ceylon (LCEY) which accounted for about Rs.1.1bn. Capital goods and banking drove activity, with notable movers including HNB, SAMP, COMB, JKH and LIOC.
Kotagala Plantations (KOTA.N0000) was downgraded by Fitch to 'CCC(lka)' and its unsecured debentures to 'CCC-(lka)' after a statutory wage hike and weakening liquidity. Fitch flagged insufficient cash to meet ~LKR540m and LKR496m maturities in FY25–26 and noted guarantees/possible support links to CFLB and Lankem (LCEY).