Author: lbostgadmin
Dilshan dropped from Sri Lanka squad for Aussie Tests
Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan selectors Friday dropped seasoned middle-order batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan from their 16-man squad for the two-Test tour of Australia starting later this month.The 30-year-old, who has been struggling with his Test form in the last two years, was replaced by Thilan Samaraweera. Dilshan, has however been kept on standby […]
Bell Profits
Oct 05, 2007 (LBO) – Fixed line telecom operator Lanka Bell posted a 70.1 percent growth in after tax profits for the year ended in March but predicts new fibre optic and WiMax projects will reduce future returns on investment. Lanka Bell, a Harry Jayawardene controlled company, said its turnover soared 70.2 percent to 6.32 […]
Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka slip 15 percent in August
Oct 05, 2007 (LBO) – Foreign visitors to Sri Lanka slipped 15.5 percent in August while total number of arrivals from January to August this year decreased 22.6 percent, the islands tourist promotion office said. Compared to last August, the arrivals slumped to 44,742 while total arrivals from January to August were down to 313,675 […]
Sri Lanka leisure firm in Maldives shrugs off blast fallout
Oct 05, 2007 (LBO) – John Keells Holdings (JKH), Sri Lanka’s top leisure group which is buying up a rival chain in the island, says its Maldives units are not affected by a recent bombing and is going ahead with re-branding its atoll resorts. The group’s leisure division has just concluded a deal offering to […]
Capital Boost
Oct 05, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned Peoples’ Bank (PB) is on track to get a credit upgrade if its capital is boosted to regulatory requirements, Fitch Ratings Lanka has said after confirming the bank’s A- (lka) rating. The bank was in line to get a billion rupee capital injection from the state in […]
Box Profits
Oct 05, 2007 (LBO) – John Keells Holdings’ (JKH) associate South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) has reported record container volume growth in its Colombo port terminal but the facility is nearing capacity, port officials and analysts said. “SAGT will continue to be a cash generating operation but if JKH wants to be a growth story […]
Sri Lanka calls for expulsion of Icelandic diplomat
Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Tuesday called for the expulsion of an Icelandic diplomat who made a clandestine visit to the Tamil Tiger-held north of the island. Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said it asked Reykjavik to recall Bjarni Vestmann, a minister-counsellor at Iceland’s foreign ministry, after he entered the country on a […]
Sri Lanka bars UN officials from rebel territory
Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Thursday it would not allow the United Nation’s human rights envoy to visit rebel-held areas in the island’s north.The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, is due in Sri Lanka next week to assess the island’s deteriorating rights record, while the UN’s top torture investigator, […]
Nine killed in fresh Sri Lanka clashes
Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) – At least six Tamil Tiger rebels and three government soldiers were killed in fresh skirmishes in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Thursday. Fighting erupted at four locations along a de facto border separating the rebel-held territory in the Wanni region Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement. It […]
England 234-8 against Sri Lanka
DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) – Owais Shah hit a solid half-century under pressure to help England reach a respectable 234-8 against Sri Lanka in the second one-day international here on Thursday.Shah, Collingwood and Swann then batted sensibly to help their team cross the 200-mark. England were struggling at 61-4 after winning the […]
ECB to hold rates steady as euro rocks near record high
VIENNA, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) – The European Central Bank was set to hold interest rates steady Thursday amid concern that the euro’s strength and a slowing economy were stirring up stiff headwinds for the 13-nation eurozone.The Bank of England was expected to leave its main lending rate unchanged as well, at 5.75 percent after […]
Flying High
Oct 04, 2007 (LBO) – The boom in civil aviation especially in the Asian region is opening up vast opportunities for professionals, especially in engineering, in Sri Lanka, a senior airline official said. Eardley Abayaratna, manager, technical services of the engineering arm of the national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines, said the rapid rate at which […]