Shares end lower; turnover hits 16-month high on block deal

REUTERS: Sri Lankan shares closed lower for a fifth straight session yesterday, led by beverage and diversified shares, after a block deal in a key healthcare stock helped turnover hit a 16-month high, brokers said.
The main stock index ended down 0.26 percent at 6,823.91, its lowest close since March 31.
Turnover on the bourse hit the highest since Aug. 19, 2014 on a block trade in Asiri Hospital Holdings Plc.
TPG Growth III SF Pte. Ltd acquired 317.1 million ordinary shares or 27.87 percent stake in Asiri at Rs.24 a share, TPG Growth said in a stock 
exchange filing.

The block deal accounted for 94.2 percent of the day’s turnover of Rs. 8.08 billion ($56.44 million), well above this year’s daily average turnover of Rs.1.1 billion.
Asiri closed 1.2 percent lower at Rs.24.80 a share.
“Select healthcare, construction, banking, and diversified counters led activity levels with additional crossings,” JKH stock brokers said in a note to investors.
A crossing is a term market participants use to refer to a block deal.

Sri Lanka’s stock market has fallen for 11 out of the last 12 trading sessions, with investor sentiment subdued after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last week warned of lower economic growth next year due to the global slowdown.
Foreign investors sold a net Rs.112.1 million worth of shares yesterday, extending the year-to-date net foreign outflow to Rs.3.35 billion worth of equities.
Nestle Lanka Plc fell 3.43 percent, while conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc was 0.61 percent lower at the close.