Colombo Stock Exchange - Help

luxmen

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Jul 17, 2012
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A discussion with Dammika perera----You entered the CSE in 1996 with Rs 300,000 what can you tell us about this?
I was asked to invest 50 million rupees by Bartleet. That is the amount required to handle my portfolio. At that time I was able to give 50 million but I wasn’t comfortable doing so because what I wanted to do was to build the bank interest. That is why I initially put Rs 300,000 and for three years watched and learned how this system works. At that time I did not have an idea about how the stock market worked as this did not fit into any of my mathematical models. During that time I became well versed in how the stock market works and I purchased stocks from the entire stock market, about 100-200 at once and analysed whether the stocks could be sold or not and I was able to gain that knowledge. That is why even today I have no hesitation with working with the stock market and have been there for more than ten years.
However, I must stress that I do not trade but I only acquire companies and this has been so for the last six years.
At the time you bought over Royal Ceramics, the perception was that there were no prospects in the industry sector. Why did you purchase Royal Ceramics at that time, what was the thinking behind this move?
I had made the decision to take over Royal Ceramics in 1992, at that time the company was loss making. I went to see this factory in 1992, but as the person I was supposed to meet was not there I returned to Colombo from Eheliyagoda. Therefore I knew the situation of the company very well. In 2000 when I took over the company it was making 40 million rupees in profits. However the company had gone on strike and the factory was in disrepair and had essentially collapsed, therefore I decided to enter into the industry sector. When we purchased the company they were manufacturing only porcelain tiles. After that we purchased the ceramic factory in Horana - Interbatch Porcelain - which was owned by Carsons however as they were running at a loss it had been acquired by Bank of Ceylon, we in turn purchased the company from them. We converted the ceramic tile factory.We turned a failure into a success. Thereafter we built the bathware factory totally from scratch which now manufactures bathroom fittings. ROCELL now manufactures porcelain, ceramics and bathware.
We can say that you always enter a market when the sector is at a low, you identify the potential. Would it be correct to call you forward thinking?
The markets can be good or bad, however regardless of the prevalent environment I see opportunities at all times. During difficult times when companies have collapsed I am able to identify the potential and build them up again. Even during good times like today, I am able to identify opportunities and know that it can be developed further. Whether the markets are good or bad is not an issue for me. The economic situation of the country does not affect my decisions. There are opportunities at all times. It is the asset that I acquire.
- See more at: http://www.businesstoday.lk/article.php?article=3549#sthash.d1aNElJ0.dpuf