Bogala Graphite demotes itself to comply with public free float rules

Bogala Graphite Lanka, a unit of Netherlandsbased AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V., said it would demote voluntarily to the secondary board of the Colombo bourse to comply with public float rules brought forward by the market regulator.

“The company, in keeping with the requirement of the SEC resolved to move from the Main Board to Diri Savi Board,” Bogala Grapahite Chairman Vijaya Malalasekera said in the company’s latest annual reports to its shareholders.

“Accordingly, all necessary steps have been taken and a scrip dividend of 1:1 has been approved by the CSE and the necessary Exchange Control permission obtained,” he added. The company said in keeping with the Articles of Association and based on Legal advice, an Extra- Ordinary General Meeting for this purpose would not be held. As a result of this step, the stated capital of the company will rise to Rs.102 million from Rs.80 million.

As at December 31, 2015 subsidiary and associate companies of AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V collectively held almost 90 percent of the issued shares of the Bogala Graphite.A secondary board company needs to have a 10 percent public free float. Meanwhile, Malalasekera said the company’s performance during the annual report period (FY15) had been disappointing when compared the previous year. He identified the demand declines from Europe, UK, US and Middle Eastern markets and from its parent company in the Netherlands as the major reason for the poor performance. The revenue for FY15 fell 4 percent year-onyear (yoy) to Rs.583 million while the net profit slumped over 100 percent yoy.