Rayynor silva ups Sampath Bank stake to over 7%

Electronic media owner and businessman Rayynor Silva yesterday upped his stake in Sampath Bank, Sri Lanka’s third largest private bank in terms of assets, to over 7 percent, stock market sources said.
The market yesterday saw crossings of 25 million and five million Sampath Bank shares at Rs.54 per share, which was purchased by Phantom Investments (Pvt) Limited, the investment arm of Silva. The seller of shares was believed to be Senthilverl Holdings (Pvt) Ltd., which was the seventh largest shareholder of Sampath Bank with 41 million shares or 3.59 percent as of March 31, 2023.
Silva, through Phantom Investments, as at March 31, 2023, held 60.5 million Sampath Bank shares or 5.29 percent stake as its fifth largest shareholder. 
A total of 27.1 million Sampath shares traded yesterday and the share closed at Rs.54.20, up Rs.1.30 or 2.45 percent from the previous close.
Vallibel One PLC controlled by business mogul Dhammika Perera is the largest shareholder of Sampath Bank with 14.95 percent stake while Global Rubber fame Prabhash Subasinghe’s Ayenka Holdings has 9.97 percent stake in the bank as its second  largest shareholder.

Employees’ Provident Fund also has 9.97 percent stake in Sampath Bank and businessman Indra Silva holds 8.20 percent stake as the fourth largest shareholder.
Sampath Bank reported subdued profits in the March quarter (1Q23), as exchange losses weighed on its performance as seen with other big lenders in the country. 
The bank reported earnings of Rs.2.57 a share or Rs.3.01 billion in the January-March 2023 quarter, compared to earnings of Rs.4.14 a share or Rs.4.85 billion a year ago, a 38 percent decline.