Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka stocks close 0.68-pct up
Feb 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed slightly higher Friday and passed 3,800 points as investors continued to bet on mid cap stocks, mainly financial and selected plantation firms, brokers said. Maskeliya Plantations closed at 35.50 rupees, up 25 cents. Conglomerate John Keells holdings closed at 168.25 rupees, up 50 cents, and Distilleries […]
Sri Lanka IMF loan tranche held back on runaway budget
Feb 25, 2010 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has held back the third tranche of a 2. 6 billion US dollar loan to Sri Lanka after the country’s budget went off track in the last quarter of 2009. The tranche of slightly over 300 million US dollars was expected in March after following […]
Arabian Call
Feb 25, 2010 (LBO) – Etisalat’s new Sri Lankan mobile subsidiary said it plans to expand coverage to cover the entire island, offer high speed links and use its international group network to give preferential rates to win customers. “We’re here to stay in Sri Lanka,” Etisalat group chief marketing officer Essa Al Haddad told […]
Commercial Profits
Feb 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank said group December quarter profits rose 8.3 percent to 1,207 million rupees while full year profits were up 1.7 percent to 4,191 million rupees. Basic earnings per share for the quarter were reported at 4.84 rupees and the full year at 16.80 rupees. In the December […]
Banking Fortunes
Feb 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nation Trust Bank (NTB) group December quarter profits rose 5.0 percent to 181.1 million rupees from a year ago, and full year profits were up 16 percent 686.1 million rupees. For the year non-interest income was up 8.0 percent to 1.9 billion rupees, and non interest expenses were […]
Branch Expansion
Feb 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HSBC unit has opened a new branch in the capital Colombo pushing the total up to 15, within weeks of starting a new branch in the northern Jaffna peninsular. The new branch in Maitland Crescent in the upmarket Cinnamon Gardens or Colombo 7 area also has a ‘premier […]
Sri Lanka shares becalmed
Feb 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed almost flat Thursday as many investors chose to hold and not trade with parliamentary elections due in April, brokers said. “The first full-year, post-war results would be comping out after the elections and the first quarter results. ” There were two private off-the-floor deals, one involving […]
Sri Lanka watching inflation: CB Governor
Feb 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is concerned about inflation but is expecting pressure on the monetary system to ease after April following the island’s traditional New Year festival, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. This week, the Treasury bill stock held by the Central Bank rose to 43 billion rupees from around 35 […]
Sri Lanka civil rights body warns of growing repression
Feb 24, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Civil Rights Movement (CRM) said recent attacks on peaceful anti-government protestors by government supporters indicated an ‘alarming slide’ towards curbs on democracy. The CRM said previous attempt to violently suppress peaceful protest had given rise to violent rebellions. The Tamil Tiger separatist insurgency began in the late 1970s […]
‘s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India announced Tuesday it has recalled 100,000 of its best-selling A-Star hatchback cars due to a fuel leakage problem
Maruti, majority owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp, said it launched the recall last November to fix the fault. The A-Star cars are being recalled both locally and internationally, mainly in Europe, as a “proactive” step, the company said in a statement. “We decided to check all vehicles from the lot, around 100,000 units including […]
Sri Lanka gets UN agency loan to help farmers
Feb 24, 2010 (LBO) – A United Nations agricultural development agency said it will give Sri Lanka a loan of 25 million dollars to help small holder farmers increase incomes. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), based in Rome, said the loan will directly benefit small producers, women, landless households and young people in […]
Indian rail budget promises high-speed trains
NEW DELHI, February 24, 2010 (AFP) – India’s rail minister announced Wednesday plans for high-speed trains for Asia’s largest rail network as she kept fares unchanged — underscoring the government’s focus on “inclusive growth”. Indian Railways boasts a network of 109,000 kilometers (67,730 miles) that transports some 18.5 million people daily on 14,000 passenger and […]