Author: lbostgadmin
UN rights council divided over Sri Lanka
GENEVA, May 26, 2009 (AFP) – Asian and Western members of the UN Human Rights Council failed to find a common voice on the situation in Sri Lanka before they were due to hold a special session on the issue Tuesday. Switzerland, with the support of about 30 mainly Western states, has tabled a draft […]
Sri Lanka Ceylinco Insurance March profit down 29-pct
May 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco Insurance Company said March 2009 net profit fell 29 percent to 101 million rupees from a year ago as claims went up, despite a sharp increase in investment income. The firm is part of the Ceylinco group which was thrown into a crisis when an unlisted subsidiary, […]
More than 110 dead after cyclone hits Bangladesh, India
DHAKA, May 26, 2009 (AFP) – Bangladesh and India launched major relief operations Tuesday after a cyclone tore into the northern coast of the Bay of Bengal, killing at least 116 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. Many of the casualties in Bangladesh were reported to be children who drowned when Cyclone Aila triggered […]
Mobile Growth
May 26, 2009 (LBO) – Mobitel, a unit of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), has increased subscribers by 73 percent to 2.8 million in the year to March 2009, while revenues climbed 48 percent to 3.6 billion rupees in the first quarter, the group said. In the year to March 2009, Millicom International Cellular said its […]
Bank Trade
May 26, 2009 (LBO) – Profits of HSBC’s Sri Lanka unit grew 40 percent to 628.1 million rupees in the March 2009 quarter on strong foreign exchange income, despite rising interest expenses, its published accounts showed. The bank’s gross assets from December to March had grown by 8.2 percent to 161,544.4 million rupees, while net […]
Tight Quarter
May 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank said group profits fell 12.9 percent to 892 million rupees in the March 2009 quarter, as its loan book shrank and the firm also changed the way it accounted for a troubled oil derivative sale. “In the future provisions will be provided after making an assessment […]
Sri Lankan shares recover, rupee flat
May 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks ended up Tuesday, as investors were bullish on blue chips and hotel stocks, while the rupee was flat against the greenback and traded at 114.90/95 levels, broker and traders said. Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka’s largest celco is a fully owned subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia. Development Finance Corporation […]
Lube Luck
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Chevron unit said net profit for the March 2009 quarter fell 33 percent to 233 million rupees from a year ago with sales virtually stagnant in a slowing economy.Chevron Lubricants Lanka said in a stock exchange filing that sales for the three months ended March 31, 2009 were […]
Sri Lanka to hold local elections in north
May 25, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is to hold local elections later this year in parts of northern areas formerly held by the Tamil Tigers for the first time in 15 years, an official said Monday. A spokesman for the local government ministry said voting will be held between August 4 and 17 to […]
Extravagant IPL changes world landscape
JOHANNESBURG, May 25, 2009 (AFP) – Commissioner Lalit Modi claimed after Sunday’s final that the Indian Premier League had become a global phenomenon.The claim might have been a touch extravagant, but there could be no doubt that the second version of cricket’s richest tournament, moved at short notice from India to South Africa, contributed to […]
Sri Lanka gets more Emirates flights
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – Emirates said it will increase flights to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo by resuming services via Male from July 1 with the launch of three additional flights a week between Dubai and Colombo.From July 1, 2009, Emirates flight EK 654 will depart Dubai at 1020 hours local time and arrive […]
Tigers admit leader dead; UN presses Sri Lanka over access
May 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers on Sunday admitted for the first time that their leader was killed by government forces a week ago as the UN demanded better access for civilians displaced in recent fighting. Almost a week after the government said its troops had killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, in an […]