[2007-09-14]  Clays Gets Shs950m
TUESDAY was an extraordinary day for Uganda Clays Ltd as it recorded a Shs950 million growth in capital following a bullish run on its counter on the stock market on Monday.

The sale saw UCL's capitalisation grow from Shs16.2 billion to Shs17.1 billion.


The growth resulted from an increase in volumes of shares traded at its counter at the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).

The capital excludes revenue it made off product sales away from the USE.

The company made a killing from its shares following two stories that appeared in the Daily Monitor of September 11 according to investment advisors on the stock market.

The stories said Uganda Clays was seeking shs9 billion from its shareholders to expand its production, through the resale of their shares. As a result, there was an increase in activities on the listed company's counter at the USE.

"Uganda Clays gained from the news on the impending rights issue as the stock rose 5.9% to an after-split all-time high of shs3,420," said a report from African Alliance a stocks brokerage firm on the securities exchange, on September 11.

The share price of the listed building materials manufacturer, rose by Shs190 from Shs3,230, where it started trading, to Shs3,420.

This means that shareholders of Uganda clays have become richer by Shs190 on each share they hold.

The impact of the price change also increased the volume of shares traded on its counter to 1,500 from 1,250 shares.

"Significant demand for the share is expected to cause further appreciation in the up coming weeks," the African Alliance Investment advisors said.

The company plans to sell its owners' shares to raise over Shs9 billion in addition to a loan of about Shs11 billion.

The money will be sunk into the construction of the company's second brick and tile making factory in Mbale district.

Officials say the company intends to increase its production from 50,000 tonnes to more than 86,000 tonnes per annum.

Other companies that improved in the trading include Bank of Baroda and Jubilee Insurance company. Baroda registered a Shs20 increase on its share price to Shs1,780 from Shs1,760.


Source: Copyright © 2007 The Monitor.