Colombo Stock Exchange
The Colombo Stock Exchange is the main stock exchange in Sri Lanka. It is one of the exchanges in South Asia, providing an electronic trading platform.
The headquarters of the CSE have been located at the World Trade Center Towers in Colombo since 1995 and it also has branches across the country in Kandy, Jaffna, Negombo, Matara, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura and Ratnapura. The Colombo Stock Exchange has 296 companies representing 20 business sectors as at 3 August 2015, with a Market Capitalization of Rs. 3115.52 Bn.
History
Share trading in Sri Lanka was initiated in 1896 under Share Brokers Association. In 1904 SBA was renamed as Colombo Brokers' Association. They started auctioning shares in an open land. Later a competitor evolved, Stock Brokers Association and in 1985 Colombo Brockers & Stock Brokers merged and formed Colombo Securities Exchange.The establishment of a formal stock exchange took place in 1985 with the incorporation of the Colombo Stock Exchange, which took over the Stock Market from the Colombo Share Brokers Association. It currently has a membership of 15 institutions, all of which are licensed to operate as stockbrokers.
In 1990, the business was renamed as Colombo Stock Exchange. CSE introduced Central Depository System and clearing was automated by that. In 1995 CSE headquarters was opened at WTC, Colombo.
Milanka Price Index was introduce in 1999 and several branches were opened within the country. The regional branches include Kandy, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Matara, Ratnapura and Ambalantota. https://www.cse.lk/corporate
Current status
Financial
The Colombo Stock Exchange has 291 companies representing 20 business sectors as at 30 June 2019, with a Market Capitalization of Rs. 2,523.38 Bn.There are currently two indices in the Colombo Stock Exchange;
- The All Share Price Index
- The S&P Sri Lanka 20 Index
Sustainable Stock Exchange
Trading session
The exchange works only in weekdays except national holidays in sri lanka. The market trading starts at 9.30am and ends in 2.30pm.Technology
The CSE operates 2 main systems:- The Central Depository System
- Automated Trading System
The CSE is currently in the process of introducing a debt securities trading system for trading of fixed income securities.
As a modern exchange, the CSE now offers an "order-driven trading platform" for securities trading - including shares, corporate debt securities and government debt securities.
Affiliation
The CSE was selected as a member of the World Federation of Exchanges in October 1998 and also was the first Exchange in the South Asian Region to obtain membership. The CSE is the 52nd Exchange to have been elected to membership of the Federation.- South Asian Federation of Exchanges
The CSE joined Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative in September 2015.
Foreign investors
Companies listed on the CSE have seen a large increase in foreign investment following the winning of 30 year old civil war by the Sri Lankan Government.Foreign investment in the stock market is freely permitted except in the case of a few companies where there are certain restrictions imposed. Investment in shares in Sri Lanka and repatriation of proceeds take place through Share Investment External Rupee Accounts opened with licensed commercial banks. Income from investments such as interest, dividends and profit realized from such investments are not subject to Exchange Control Regulations by the Sri Lankan Government.
Post ceasefire agreement boom
After witnessing mediocre performance throughout the 1990s mainly due to the Sri Lankan Civil War, the ceasefire agreement signed in 2001 saw unprecedented growth in the both indices of the CSE. The All Share Price Index, which was hovering around the 500 mark in August 2001, has surpassed the 2000 mark after that.This led CSE to be consistently dubbed as one of the best performing markets in the world. As of 2005 the CSE had recorded a consistent annual growth of over 30% in the All Share Price Index for the previous three years. It surpassed that in 2006, with the ASPI growing by 41.6%, and the MPI growing by 51.4% during the calendar year. CSE recorded the highest point in history on 26 February 2007. Milanka Price Index reached 4,214.8 points on that day.
Buoyed by improved investor confidence due to positive political developments and strong corporate results the CSE continued to achieve strong growth in 2007, as the ASPI surged passed the 3,000 mark for the first time in its history on February 13, reaching a record high for the seventh consecutive day. The CSE has also recorded an average daily turnover of Rs. 776.8 million for 2007.
Post war boom
After the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War on 18 May 2009, CSE indexes increased rapidly creating new records. Market capitalization at the Colombo Stock Exchange reached record high on 6 October 2009 as it reached the Rs. 1 trillion mark for the first time in Sri Lanka’s history. All Share Price Index broke the record for its previous high by marking 3549.27 points on 11 January 2010. CSE was the best performing stock exchange in the world in 2009 as it jumped 125.2 percent during that year.CSE in the news
Effective from 18 June2018 the stocks in the S&P Sri Lanka 20 in alphabetical order are as follows.| COMPANY | TICKER |
| Access Engineering PLC | AEL.N0000 |
| Aitken Spence PLC | SPEN.N0000 |
| Ceylinco Insurance PLC | CINS.N0000 |
| Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC | LLUB.N0000 |
| Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC | COMB.N0000 |
| Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC Non-Voting | COMB.X0000 |
| DFCC Bank PLC | DFCC.N0000 |
| Dialog Axiata PLC | DIAL.N0000 |
| Hatton National Bank PLC | HNB.N0000 |
| Hatton National Bank PLC Non-Voting | HNB.X0000 |
| Hemas Holdings PLC | HHL.N0000 |
| John Keells Holdings PLC | JKH.N0000 |
| Lanka Orix Leasing Company PLC | LOLC.N0000 |
| Melstacorp PLC | MELS.N0000 |
| National Development Bank PLC | NDB.N0000 |
| People's Leasing & Finance PLC | PLC.N0000 |
| Richard Pieris & Company PLC | RICH.N0000 |
| Sampath Bank PLC | SAMP.N0000 |
| Softlogic Holdings PLC | SHL.N0000 |
| Teejay Lanka PLC | TJL.N0000 |
| Tokyo Cement Company PLC | TKYO.N0000 |
| Tokyo Cement Company PLC Non-Voting | TKYO.X0000 |
| Vallibel One PLC | VONE.N0000 |
Colombo Stock Exchange has transferred nine companies to their Watch List with effect from today due to non-submission of interim financial statements for the period ended 31 March 2018.
The Colombo Stock Exchange made a statement that investment flows from the Scandinavian region to Sri Lankan stocks have made a noteworthy improvement in recent years, where inward investments have grown by 39 percent per annum since 2013. According to a CSE statement, Scandinavian countries have collectively invested Rs.8.2 billion in local equities year-to-date, which amounted to 23 percent of the total foreign purchases during the period.
The National Stock Exchange and the Colombo Stock Exchange signed an agreement to explore opportunities to work together and foster a strategic relationship. The agreement is intended for cooperation on the exchange of information and expertise and also paves the way for the NSE to play a consultative role in a number of strategic initiatives implemented by the CSE, including in new product development and exchange operations.
The Colombo Stock Exchange launched a guide for listed Sri Lankan companies to help them address environmental, social and governance factors in their capital market communications.