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Sri Lanka sovereign rating weighed down by weak budgets, war, public employment
March 02 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s weak public finances which leave little room for the country to counter shocks and an ongoing war are weighing heavily on its credit rating, Fitch Ratings said.Sri Lanka has a BB- sovereign rating with the outlook downgraded to negative in April 2006 after the conflict intensified, which is now […]
Head Hunted
March 01 (LBO) – Former head of Fitch Ratings Lanka, and head of Amba Research in Sri Lanka Ravi Abeysuriya, joined as commission member of the country’s securities watchdog on Thursday. The appointment as member of the Securities and Exchange Commission was made by President Mahinda Rajapakse, the SEC said in a statement. Abeysuriya is […]
Sampath Exits
March 01 (LBO) – Sampath Bank has sold its 15 percent stake in Asian Alliance Insurance one of Sri Lanka’s newer insurance firms, an official said. The tranche was sold for 20.50 a share Thursday for 76.8 million rupees. A firm connected to high net worth investor Dhammika Perera is believed to have taken the […]
Call Up
March, 01 (LBO) – DFCC Bank is making a cash call of three billion rupees from shareholders to buy into an upcoming capital raising of Commercial Bank of Ceylon, the company said Thursday. DFCC gained 6.25 rupees to trade at 206.50 at mid-day Thursday. The bank is issuing one share for every four existing shares […]
‘s Dilmah shakes a cocktail with Ceylon tea
March 01, 2007 (LBO) – At the Water’s Edge in Battaramulla on a humid Monday evening, tea drinkers and cocktail fans find common ground ranging from chivas regal to green tea. Here in this upmarket golf club house, six kilometers from Colombo city, tea-tenders are busy dreaming up concoctions to serve up tea in variations that, […]
Odds On
March, 01 (LBO) – The cricket World Cup may not have started yet, but inside the online gaming industry, a virtual tournament is already on. Hot favorite to win the cup is Australia, having won two cups in a row, with odds of 5/2 followed by South Africa at 9/2. Sri Lanka comes third ranked […]
Hang Up
COLOMBO, March 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka suspended sales of telephones and mobile phone cards in the embattled north and east on Thursday as troops stepped up attacks against Tiger rebels, an official said. The move was temporary and aimed at preventing guerrillas making use of phone services for military operations, telecoms watchdog chief […]
Markets stabilize after rout, as Wall St. and Shanghai rebound
NEW YORK, Feb 28, 2007 (AFP) – Global stock markets steadied Wednesday a day after the worst slide in years as Wall Street nerves were calmed by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and Shanghai clawed back some of its massive losses. Latin American markets meanwhile rebounded on Wall Street’s coattails. Brazil’s Bovespa index shot up 1.73 […]
Sri Lankan warplanes bomb suspected Tiger positions
COLOMBO, March 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan jets bombed suspected Tamil Tiger positions in northeast Sri Lanka on Thursday, a day after Colombo stepped up an offensive against the rebels, killing at least 18 people, a statement said.Air force MIG Jet aircraft attacked a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) training camp in Vavuniya, […]
Sri Lanka airforce plane crash kills two
COLOMBO, March 1, 2007 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan air force trainee pilot and his instructor were killed Thursday when their plane crashed, an official said Thursday. The Chinese-built training aircraft crashed at Anuradhapura, 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the capital during a routine exercise, an airforce official said, adding that investigations were underway. […]