Industrial Asphalts major shareholder gives recent rights issue a miss

The controlling shareholder of leading manufacturer of bituminous products Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) PLC (ASPH), G. Ramanan has not subscribed for the company’s recent rights issue concluded in September.

As a result, Ramanan’s stake in the company was reduced to 53.51 percent at the end of September compared to 66.89 percent at the end of May, with number of shares unchanged at two billion.

ASPH’s right issue, which offered 749.8 million shares on the basis of 12 new shares for 13 held at 20 cents each, raising almost Rs.150 million, was fully subscribed.

Consequently, the stated capital of the company jumped by 2,250 percent to Rs.156.6 million in at the end of September quarter compared to Rs.6.6 million in the previous quarter.

Right shares of 126.4 million, 0.7 million and 0.5 million were allotted to K.  Naveenkanth, Nanda Kumara Dahanayake and Duleep Daluwatte, who are directors of the company. Following the right issue, Naveenkanth sold at least 148 million shares in the market for 30 cents a share.

Consequently, he only held 13,500 shares at the end of September quarter. 

The company said it would utilise almost Rs.50 million raised from the right issue to partially settle short-term loans and an overdraft facility and another Rs.100 million for working capital requirements. At the end of September, the company had Rs.32 million in interest bearing loans and borrowings and another Rs.76.3 million in bank overdrafts. Meanwhile, high net worth investor, Dr. T. Senthilverl increased his stake in the company to 9.81 percent at the end of September from 6.55 percent he held in the previous quarter.