BPPL Holdings makes CSE debut

From left: CSE CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike, BPPL Head of Brush-ware Operations B.D. Prasad Devapriya Perera, BPPLFinance Director Vaithilingam Selvaraj, BPPL Chairman Sarath Amarasinghe, BPPL MD Dr. Anush Amarasinghe,CSE Chairman Vajira Kulatilaka, CT CLSA Consultant Marianne Page, CSE Director M. R. Prelis and CT CLSA Capital CEO Zakir Mohamedally

Brush manufacturer and exporter of sanitary maintenance tools, BPPL Holdings Limited (BPPL), also known as Biera Group, rang the opening bell to commence trading and celebrate the listing of its shares on the Colombo Stock Exchange 
(CSE) yesterday.

Chairman Sarath Amarasinghe, Managing Director Dr. Anush Amarasinghe and members of the Board of Directors and senior management of BPPL were present at the ceremony, which was also attended by senior representatives of CT CLSA Capital which managed the IPO process for BPPL. 
CSE Chairman Vajira Kulatilaka, Director M. R. Prelis, CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike and the CSE senior management were also present at the event.
BPPL offered 30.68 million ordinary shares through its Initial Public Offering (IPO) at Rs.12 each and was oversubscribed on the opening day.
BPPL shares opened at Rs.12.50 yesterday, up 50 cents from the IPO price and traded between Rs.13.00-12.40. The share closed at Rs.12.40.  
The CSE Chairman Vajira Kulatilaka welcomed BPPL to the stock market and urged the company to embrace the added responsibility that comes with operating as a publicly listed company, including protecting the rights and interests of minority shareholders. 
He went on to pinpoint the manufacturing sector as an important growth driver for the country going forward. “I don’t think Sri Lanka can leapfrog our competition and reach an improved stage of growth without the manufacturing sector. Such growth should be backed by a strong manufacturing base,” said Kulatilaka. 
Speaking on behalf of BPPL, Managing Director Dr. Anush Amarasinghe thanked the new BPPL shareholders for the trust placed in the company and expressed his appreciation to the board of directors and the company’s employees for their efforts over the years. 
“This is just the beginning. Our future prospects are extremely bright. We are engaged in an industry with tremendous potential and will continue to strive ahead in a way that will help create further potential. We will uphold the confidence placed in us, with each step, adding greater value and contributing to the benefits of all our stakeholders” Dr. Amarasinghe added. 
BPPL is one of Sri Lanka’s largest brush manufacturers and exporters of sanitary maintenance tools customized for household, professional, commercial and industrial cleaning applications. With over 30 years of brush-ware manufacturing and marketing experience, the company is among the top OEM brush makers in the world.