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SAN FRANCISCO, May 7, 2010 (AFP) – Internet addresses written in Arabic are making history as the first online domains in non-Latin characters, with Chinese and Thai expected to follow close behind. “For the first time in the history of the Internet, non-Latin characters are being used for top-level domains,” the Internet Corporation for Assigned […]
Sri Lanka Aviva unit makes Rs80mn loss in March
May 07, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aviva NDB Insurance made an 80 million rupee loss in March 2010 quarter from a year ago, as wage and sales costs rose and it faced higher claims, accounts filed at the stock exchange showed. Aviva NDB Insurance made 98.3 million rupee profit during March quarter last year. […]
Sri Lanka not given conditions for GSP renewal, says EU
May 07, 2010 (LBO) – The European Union office in Sri Lanka said the EU had not given the island’s government a ‘list of conditions’ to meet to renew a trade deal nor was it dependant on ‘any single measure’. The EU office said in a statement a government delegation will visit EU headquarters in […]
Sri Lanka calls on West to crack down on Tiger funding
May 7, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s prime minister on Friday urged Western nations to crack down on Tamils using their soil to revive the Tamil Tiger separatist movement that was crushed last year. Premier D. M. Jayaratne said some of the 1.5 million ethnic Tamils living abroad were planning to form a movement to […]
Last Laugh
May 07, 2010 (LBO) – Laugfs Group, the sole rival of the Sri Lankan unit of Royal Dutch Shell, is keen to buy the multinational’s operations in the island, Laugfs chairman W K H Wegapitiya said. Shell Gas Lanka is the dominant supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Sri Lanka with Laugfs having a […]
Sri Lanka Seylan Bank profits up in March quarter
May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank group has reported profits of 195.5 million rupees in the March 2010 quarter from break-even levels a year earlier with wider interest margins boosting the bottom line. Group interest income fell 34.6 percent to 4,052 million rupees, but interest expenses fell at a faster 54. 6 […]
Sri Lankan stocks close flat
May 6, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed flat Thursday as price drops on selected high value shares were compensated by price gains on small and midcap stocks, brokers said. This created a buying spree from retail investors who expect Nawaloka Hospitals financials to improve in coming quarters, brokers said. In a privately negotiated […]
Finance Listing
May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sinhaputhra Finance, a regulated non-bank financial firm based in Sri Lanka’s hill country city of Kandy, has been given the nod for a listing on its second board, the Colombo Stock Exchange said. The firm will list 6,295,893 shares, the CSE statement said without elaborating. The firm will be listed […]
Wider Margins
May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank group has reported profits of 195.5 million rupees in the March 2010 quarter from break-even levels a year earlier with wider interest margins boosting the bottom line. Group interest income fell 34.6 percent to 4,052 million rupees, but interest expenses fell at a faster 54.6 percent […]
Selling Down
May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s listed Sampath Bank has sold down more of its stake in a Bangladesh finance firm, the bank said in a series of disclosures in the Dhaka stock exchange. On April 19 Sampath Bank as a corporate sponsor of the LankaBangla Finance said it had sold a total of […]