Author: lbostgadmin
Closed Door
WASHINGTON, April 1, 2009 (AFP) – The United States began taking visa applications Wednesday for highly skilled foreigners, with lawmakers pressing to close the door to some of the long-coveted workers amid the recession.Robert Hoffman, a vice president at software giant Oracle and co-chair of Compete America, a coalition of tech companies lobbying to hire […]
Sri Lanka tea exports tumble in February
April 2, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s tea exports slid nearly 30 percent in February due to an output slump blamed on a “severe drought,” officials said Thursday.Sri Lanka is one of the world’s biggest tea exporters and the commodity is its largest foreign exchange-earner. Tea exports fell 29.2 percent to 131.3 million dollars in […]
Shrinking Credit
April 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector credit is shrinking with credit card users also falling for two straight months as an economic slowdown begins to bite, the latest official data show. Credit from central bank to the government rose to 244.5 billion rupees in January 2009, from 217.4 billion rupees a month […]
Oil Hit
April 02, 2009 (LBO) – Non-performing assets at Citibank’s Sri Lanka branch have rocketed after state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) refused to pay up on controversial oil derivatives which went against the utility.Citi, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and locally incorporated People’s Bank and Commercial Bank sold oil derivatives to CPC. Commercial Bank took a 692 […]
Sri Lankan stocks close down
Apr 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed weaker Thursday dragged down by low volume transactions on Hatton National Bank (HNB) and Development Finance Corporation of Ceylon (DFCC), brokers said. Dialog Telekom, a subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia, closed flat at 4.80 rupees, while fixed-line giant Sri Lanka Telecom lost 25 cents to close at […]
Sri Lanka brain drain still key corporate concern
April 02, 2009 (LBO) – The migration of skilled professionals remains a major concern for Sri Lanka’s corporate sector, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.Hasitha Wickremasinghe, an economist for the ADB in Sri Lanka, said a recent survey of the corporate sector by the bank had revealed brain drain was continuing unabated. The problem was […]
Lubricant Trends
April 01, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Chevron unit said net profit for the 2008 financial year fell 12 percent to 948 million rupees from a year ago with high fuel price and economic slowdown reducing sales amid increasing competition.Revenue for the financial year ending December 31, 2008 rose three percent to 8.9 billion rupees, […]
‘s son wounded: military
April 1, 2009 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s eldest son was wounded in battle against Sri Lankan security forces, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said on Wednesday.Prabhakaran’s location is uncertain, though the Tigers say their leader is still with his men as they try to stave off defeat at the hands of […]
‘s most wanted claims Lahore attack, threatens US
LAHORE, March 31, 2009 (AFP) – Pakistan’s most wanted militant Tuesday claimed responsibility for a deadly police academy assault and threatened to attack the US capital in retaliation for a series of air strikes. Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, for whom the United States has posted a five-million-dollar reward, said there would be more attacks […]
Female Targets
April 01, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan retailer Odel said it has opened a fashion accessories store for women called ‘Backstage’ in Singapore with more overseas outlets planned.Gunewardene said that later this year, Backstage will open its second outlet in Singapore at Orchard Central and also plans to enter the Maldives and India. Janine Magrath, […]
Sri Lanka Aitken Spence opens new Maldivian resort
April 01, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence group said it has opened its latest Maldivian luxury resort called Adaaran ˜Prestige’ Vadoo. The resort, 15 minutes by speed boat from Male’ International Airport, has 50 villas including six Japanese concept rooms on the ocean, a company statement said. The company said each villa comes […]
Fresh Equity
April 01, 2009 (LBO) – A one-third stake in Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank being offered to new investors by the regulators will be in new shares with the cash going into boost the capital of the bank. Ceylinco group currently owns a 24 percent stake of Seylan bank’s voting stock while its board manages several […]