All Blogs
Sri Lanka goes ahead with baby elephant separation
August 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president brushed aside protests from animal rights activists Wednesday when he formally gifted two baby elephants separated from their mothers to a Buddhist temple.President Mahinda Rajapakse presented the “guardianship” of the two calves to top Buddhist monks at a ceremony in the central town of Kandy, his office […]
Sri Lanka outperforms IMF reserve targets: Central Bank
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross reserves have risen 71 percent to 2.1 billion US dollars by end-July from 1,272 million US dollars in March, which is higher than expected under an International Monetary Fund program, the Central Bank said.The central bank said it expected foreign reserves to increase due to inflows from […]
Sri Lankan shares up 0.21-pct, blue chips gain
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks regained some lost ground Tuesday as investors took careful bets on selected blue chips such as John Keells Holdings (JKH) and Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka, but overall sentiment still remained weak, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed up 0.21 percent (5.36 […]
Freight Move
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – A plan to move containers by rail in Sri Lanka and reduce congestion on roads has finally got moving with the state-owned railay making it a priority, a senior official said.“It is our number one priority in future plans,” said P P Wijesekera, General Manager of the Railways Department. “The […]
Repair Job
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard said it is getting more business in repairing offshore support vessels for the oil industry and has dedicated two docks for the work.Company officials said profit margins are higher on ship repairs as it involves more value addition and less material than in building new vessels. […]
Bank Trends
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank (HNB) said group net profit shot up 76 percent to 996 million rupees in the June 2009 quarter from a year ago as interest margins improved but loan growth slowed. The balance sheet showed a steep 330 percent increase in holdings of government securities to […]
Good Quarter
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Banking Corporation (PABC) June quarter profits shot up 346 percent on strong net interest income and higher fee income despite rising bad loans, interim results showed. In the first six months of 2009, the banks performing loan book was up 12.2 percent to 10.66 billion rupees, […]
Sri Lanka in bid to push up hotel room rates
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to impose minimum room rates for hotels in and around the capital Colombo to push up prices following the end of a war which has made the country safer for tourists, government officials said. Bernard Goonetilleke, chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism, the tourism promotion agency, said the […]
Sugar price hits record high
LONDON, August 3, 2009 (AFP) – The price of sugar reached a record high here on Monday, aided by a weaker dollar amid more positive signs of economic recovery and the commodity’s weak supply situation, traders said.In London trade, white sugar for delivery in October reached 505.9 pounds a tonne — the highest level since […]
Pakistan bosses under fire after SLanka defeat
KARACHI, August 4, 2009 (AFP) – Former players Tuesday called for a major shake-up in Pakistani cricket after the national side lost the five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka 3-0. Sri Lanka, who won the preceding three-Test series 2-0 to post their first home series win against Pakistan, crushed Pakistan by six wickets on Monday […]