Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lankan cricketers hurt in Pakistan attack: police
LAHORE, March 3, 2009 (AFP) – Masked gunmen opened fire on the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday, killing at least eight people and wounding six team members, police said.Sri Lankan officials said six team members — five players and a coach — were wounded and that […]
Pakistan attackers laid siege then fled: police
LAHORE, March 3, 2009 (AFP) – The attackers who ambushed Sri Lanka’s cricketers near a Pakistani stadium mounted a sophisticated assault using rockets, grenades and guns before escaping in stolen cars, police said. Witnesses said the attack started with an explosion at 08:40 am (0340 GMT) as a convoy carrying the Sri Lankan national team […]
Sri Lanka Ceylinco Insurance veterans promoted
March 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco Insurance said it has appointed Rajkumar Renganathan and Ajith Gunawardena, chief executive directors of the company’s Life and General insurance divisions, as joint deputy chairmen of the company with immediate effect. A company statement also said its funds were invested according to regulatory guidelines and that only […]
Outlook Cut
Mar 03, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has cut the credit outlook of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the island’s largest fixed access operator, to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’ after the sovereign rating outlook was lowered last week. Fitch said SLT’s long-term foreign currency rating of ‘B+’ and local currency rating of ‘BB-‘ were unchanged. Its domestic […]
Downgraded
Mar 03, 2009 (LBO) – The ‘AAA(lka)’ rating on Sri Lanka’s Dialog Telekom was cut by two notches to ‘AA(lk)’ Fitch Ratings, following price competition which is weakening margins and rising costs, Fitch Ratings said. Dialog’s rating of its outstanding redeemable preference shares reflected the subordinate nature of the instrument. Though Dialog has started a […]
Profit Standard
LONDON, March 3, 2009 (AFP) – Emerging markets bank Standard Chartered said Tuesday that net profit jumped a fifth to 3.41 billion dollars (2.69 billion euros) in 2008, leaving it well-placed to face the global slowdown. Despite the gain in profits after tax, Standard Chartered was not immune to rising bad debts linked to the […]
Sri Lankan shares down on earnings jitters
Mar 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks tumbled on Tuesday as blue chip counters took a beating due to worse-than-expected corporate results which kept investors on the sidelines, brokers said. The All Share Price Index lost 1.93 percent (32.22 points) to end at 1,639.47while the more liquid Milanka shed 2.27 percent (39.71 points) to […]
Sri Lanka in US$200mn bond sale
Mar 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is seeking buyers for 200 million US dollars of 2-year bonds, which pays a semi-annual coupon, the government’s debt office said, as debt markets remain risk averse and liquidity tight. This month 215 million US dollars of Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs) are maturing, but the government is […]
Sri Lanka Dilshan hits ton after Samaraweera double
LAHORE, March 2, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka continued to pile the pressure on Pakistan as Tillakaratne Dilshan followed up Thilan Samaraweera’s double century with a ton of his own in the second Test here Monday.Pakistan’s experienced leg-spinner Danish Kaneria was once again a major disappointment, conceding 174 runs without taking a wicket in his […]
Banking Woes
March 02, 2009(LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank said it made a loss of 709 million rupees in the December 2008 quarter compared with group net profit of 199 million a year ago with a sharp rise in bad loans and a slowdown in deposits.Total capital adequacy ratio at bank level has slipped to 8.32 […]
Sri Lankan stocks close down
Mar 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares took a beating on Monday as investors preferring to stay away in the wake of poor corporate results published during the weekend, analysts said. Fixed line giant Sri Lanka Telecom was down 75 cents to close at 35. Foreign buying was at 17.5 million rupees, while foreign […]
Sri Lanka negotiating more forex swaps, Jan intervention U$251mn: Central Bank
Mar 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank says it is negotiating two swap agreements with central banks to boost the country’s flagging foreign reserves, as interventions continue to pressure the rupee. Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves fell to 1,753 million US dollars in December. The latest official data shows that the Central Bank […]