Category:
Sri Lanka plantations wage talks fail, unions say
Sept 08, 2009 (LBO) – Talks between Sri Lanka regional plantations companies (RPCs) and estate labour unions on a wage hike have failed, resulting in uncertainty about production and exports, officials said.The two-year collective wage agreement between the unions and RPCs expired in March. Labour unions will meet today to decide their future course of […]
‘ money
MALE, September 7, 2009 (AFP) – The Maldives, whose fight against rising sea levels has become a cause celebre for environmentalists, said Monday it would have to skip UN climate change talks in Copenhagen this year to save money.Some campaigners said the negotiations would be weakened if the Maldives were missing, given their vocal campaigning […]
Sri Lanka power firm looks for Rs600mn in IPO
Sept 08, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas Power, a unit of listed Hemas Holdings is seeking up to 626 million rupees through a sale of 31.3 million shares to increase investments in renewable energy. The firm is pushing for growth by moving into renewable energy. It already has a 2MW run of the river […]
Sri Lanka Malinga, Samaraweera star in win
September 8, 2009 (AFP) – Lasith Malinga grabbed three wickets off five deliveries to bowl Sri Lanka to a crushing 97-run win over New Zealand in a tri-series match here on Tuesday.The paceman finished with a career-best 4-28 as New Zealand were dismissed for 119 chasing a 217-run target on a slow pitch in the […]
Bursting economic bubble may have averted greater disaster ahead: Sri Lanka CB chief
Sept 08, 2009 (LBO) – The bursting of a global economic bubble in 2007-2008 may have averted greater disaster ahead, but the global financial community must implement a new framework to prevent recurrences, Sri Lanka’s central bank chief has said. Cabraal said complex financial instruments, especially derivatves, should be subjected to tighter rules and like […]
Sri Lankan shares close 1.66-pct up
Sep 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up almost across the board Monday as retail investors bet heavily on hotel stocks, while strategic investors bought into high value counters such as Commercial Bank, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) was up 1.66 percent (43.78 points) to close at 2,674.55 […]
Freight Costs
Sept 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shippers say they will resist efforts by international shipping lines to raise freight rates this month at a time of over-capacity by switching to smaller lines if necessary.Global lines led by Maersk, the world’s biggest container carrier, have announced rate hikes from September 1. CMA CMG and Evergreen […]
Cost Management
Sept 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank is cutting costs and focusing on recoveries to put the bank back on a stronger financial footing, members of an interim board appointed by the regulator said. At bank level gross loans were 101.8 billion and bad loans were 32.1 billion rupees. Seylan reported 187.8 million […]
Rate War
Sept 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom, the island’s dominant fixed line operator, said it was offering lower rates and discounts in new subscriber packages amid intensifying competition among phone companies.Existing SLT customer switching to new packages will be charged a transfer fee while those sticking to their ‘Home’ and ‘Business’ standard packages will […]
” UN official expulsion: official
September 7, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is reviewing a move to expel a senior United Nations official over comments he made during the final weeks of the country’s decades long ethnic war, a senior official said Monday.James Elder, communications chief for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), was ordered out of the country for […]
Sri Lanka heads for record deficit despite better revenues in June
Sept 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state revenues fell 6.15 percent in June from a year earlier, implying an annualized deficit of 10.8 percent of gross domestic product for 2009, but the gap has narrowed from previous months, the latest official data show. In the 6-months to June the state took away 289.7 billion […]
Bank Issue
Sept 06, 2009 (LBO) – A 54.2 million sale of fresh voting shares in Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank to raise 1.9 billion rupees, after it was put under new management by regulators, has attracted the interest of foreign funds, a top official said. The Ceylinco group controlled the bank through its own shares as well […]