Tricky Position

Nov 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s supreme court said petroleum minister A H M Fowzie should be removed, in a case where controversial oil hedges by a state-run petro firm were challenged in a public interest petition. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The […]

Oil Bets

Nov 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s supreme court has ordered the state-owned oil refiner, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), to suspend controversial hedge payments to banks until a central bank probe into the matter is over. CPC chairman Ashantha de Mel has maintained that the deals were done on cabinet instructions which had not allowed […]

Sri Lanka Tigers could go back to guerrilla war as mini state crumbles

November 28, 2008 (AFP) – A pledge by Sri Lanka’s Tamil rebel leader to fight on despite a military onslaught raised fears Friday of a return to a hit-and-run guerrilla war as his mini-state faced potential collapse. Separatist chief Velupillai Prabhakaran vowed Thursday the rebels would “continue with our struggle until the alien Sinhala occupation […]

Mumbai attacks leave at least 125 dead, Pakistan accused

MUMBAI, November 27, 2008 (AFP) – Indian commandos battled into the early hours of Friday to end a multiple hostage crisis in Mumbai after suspected Pakistan-based Islamic militants killed 125 people across the city. Officials said they had almost totally cleared the luxury Taj Mahal hotel where gunmen had been holed up for more than […]

Commandos storm Mumbai Jewish centre: Eye witness

MUMBAI, November 28, 2008 (AFP) – At least 17 commandos on Friday abseiled from a helicopter into the Jewish centre in Mumbai taken by Islamic militants, and explosions were heard, an AFP witness said.The centre was one of several targets in the city attacked by Islamist gunmen.Officials said hostages, including Israelis, were believed to be […]

Tele Performance

Nov 28, 2008 (LBO) – Profits of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) group, the island’s largest fixed access carrier, fell 31 percent to 1,235 million rupees with revenues growing 4 percent to 11,691 million in the quarter ended September 2008. The stand alone fixed access unit, which excludes the cellular subsidiary Mobitel, saw profits fall 45 […]

Sri Lanka tea prices fall sharply

Nov 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices at the Colombo auction fell sharply this week with large quantities unsold indicating the crisis caused by the sudden collapse in demand last month was continuing. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Brokers said that prices […]

Sri Lanka hoteliers brace for tough winter

Nov 28, 2008 Sri Lanka’s hoteliers are bracing for a tough winter season with occupancy levels being hit by cancellations amid global turmoil while the industry was already struggling with weak arrivals, officials said. Though hotels are pressured to bring down room rates, officials say they are hoping to give value added services and improve […]

Steady State

Nov 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank’s net profits for the September 2008 quarter rose 18 percent to 351 million rupees, interim accounts showed, while revenues climbed 20 percent to 3,169 million rupees. During the 9-months to September, performing loans and advances had growth 15 percent to 57.2 billion rupees. Total deposits […]

Hatton Profits

Nov 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank group profits were up 6 percent to 807.3 million rupees with revenues up 16 percent to 9,665.3 million rupees in the 9-months to September, accounts filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange showed. Group gross assets were 256.5 billion rupees, up 6 percent from December 2007 […]

Sri Lanka shares rise marginally, Distilleries boosts trading volumes

Nov 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan share prices ended slightly firmer Friday, with volumes pushed higher by large trades in Distilleries Company but concerns over company earnings still weighing on the market, brokers said. Tissera said the large transactions in Distilleries Company accounted for the bulk of the day’s trading volumes. Over 11.2 million […]

Hedge Probe

Nov 27, 2008 (LBO) – A team of Sri Lankan ministers is probing an oil hedge that could lose hundreds of millions of dollars to a state-run oil retailer amidst claims that the oil retailer had not informed the cabinet clearly about risks of derivatives trading. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog […]

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