All Blogs
Capital Boost
Oct 05, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned Peoples’ Bank (PB) is on track to get a credit upgrade if its capital is boosted to regulatory requirements, Fitch Ratings Lanka has said after confirming the bank’s A- (lka) rating. The bank was in line to get a billion rupee capital injection from the state in […]
Sri Lanka leisure firm in Maldives shrugs off blast fallout
Oct 05, 2007 (LBO) – John Keells Holdings (JKH), Sri Lanka’s top leisure group which is buying up a rival chain in the island, says its Maldives units are not affected by a recent bombing and is going ahead with re-branding its atoll resorts. The group’s leisure division has just concluded a deal offering to […]
Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka slip 15 percent in August
Oct 05, 2007 (LBO) – Foreign visitors to Sri Lanka slipped 15.5 percent in August while total number of arrivals from January to August this year decreased 22.6 percent, the islands tourist promotion office said. Compared to last August, the arrivals slumped to 44,742 while total arrivals from January to August were down to 313,675 […]
Bell Profits
Oct 05, 2007 (LBO) – Fixed line telecom operator Lanka Bell posted a 70.1 percent growth in after tax profits for the year ended in March but predicts new fibre optic and WiMax projects will reduce future returns on investment. Lanka Bell, a Harry Jayawardene controlled company, said its turnover soared 70.2 percent to 6.32 […]
Dilshan dropped from Sri Lanka squad for Aussie Tests
Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan selectors Friday dropped seasoned middle-order batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan from their 16-man squad for the two-Test tour of Australia starting later this month.The 30-year-old, who has been struggling with his Test form in the last two years, was replaced by Thilan Samaraweera. Dilshan, has however been kept on standby […]
Teen on mechanical heart gets transplant
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) – A Malaysian teenage girl desperately looking for a new heart has successfully undergone a transplant operation after being hooked up to a mechanical heart for over a year, reports said Friday. Tee Hui Yee, 14, received a heart in a 10-hour operation at the National Heart Institute late […]
Nobel prize season opens Monday
STOCKHOLM, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) – The 2007 Nobel prize season opens Monday with the announcement of the medicine prize, as the fight against climate change is tipped for the Nobel Peace Prize and speculation is rife for the literature award. Laureates receive a gold medal, a diploma and 10 million Swedish kronor (1.53 million […]
European, UK central banks sit tight on rates
VIENNA, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) – Europe’s two biggest central banks kept interest rates on hold Thursday as they scoured financial and economic data for signs of damage in the wake of a global banking crisis.“This underpins our call for the ECB to be firmly on hold for now,” Bartsch said.The European Central Bank and […]
Sprint queen Marion Jones admits doping: report
WASHINGTON, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) – Sprint superstar Marion Jones, who has dodged doping allegations for years, has admitted using steroids before her triumphant 2000 Olympics campaign, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.The Post, in a story posted on its website, said Jones had written to family and friends to tell them she would plead […]
England taste rare one-day success in Sri Lanka
DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) – Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad shared four big wickets as England ended a 25-year wait with a 65-run win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international here on Thursday. The pace duo built on man-of-the-match Owais Shah’s superb 82 as England dismissed the World Cup runners-up […]