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Sri Lanka draws Japanese investor interest
Aug 26, 2009 (LBO) – A 40-member Japanese trade and investment mission is due to visit Sri Lanka in November 2009 following the end of the island’s 30-year ethnic war, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said.Members of the mission during their visit will take part in the Japan – Sri Lanka Business Co-operation Committee meeting […]
Sri Lanka firms told socially responsible investing does pay
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Companies should look closely at socially responsible business practices as they are more profitable and opens the door to alternative investments, a senior official from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) said. “Socially responsible investment advocates argue that screening helps eliminate companies that have risks that are generally not recognized by […]
Sri Lanka central bank domestic assets fall
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Treasury bills, a key domestic asset component at Sri Lanka’s central bank, plummeted following an unusual deal with a US fund manager which effectively swapped them for hard currency. According to official data released Monday the Central Bank’s Treasury bills stock which represented money printed for the government during a […]
Bank Capital
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank said the Colombo stock exchange has approved its application to list new ordinary shares in an effort to raise fresh capital.Seylan Bank was brought under the supervision of the banking regulator, the Central Bank, after it faced a run following the collapse of an unlisted Ceylinco […]
Sri Lanka coconut exporter wins agribusiness award
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Renuka Agrifoods, a Sri Lankan exporter of value-added agro-based products, especially coconut, has won a top award for agribusiness.The company, a subsidiary of the listed Renuka Holdings, said in a statement it was named Overall National Winner (Gold Award) at the recent National Agribusiness Awards 2009. It also clinched the […]
Cairn on brink of big win in India oil gamble
NEW DELHI, August 25, 2009 (AFP) – Oil entrepreneur Bill Gammell took a big gamble 12 years ago — and his winnings look set to start rolling in as Cairn Energy, the company he heads, begins to pump oil from under western India.Cairn aims to draw 175,000 barrels of oil per day — accounting for […]
Microsoft revs up low-budget mobile phones
SAN FRANCISCO, August 24, 2009 (AFP) – Microsoft on Monday unveiled software that lets Twitter, Facebook and other hot Internet services be delivered to low-cost “feature phones” common in developing countries.The US technology giant will debut OneApp in South Africa and hopes to swiftly roll it out in India, China and other countries where millions […]
Sri Lankan court bails war-zone doctors
August 24, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan magistrate on Monday bailed four doctors held for allegedly spreading rebel propaganda before the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. The doctors were arrested in May after they left an area where security forces fought the final battle against the separatist rebels. “They have been asked to post […]
” by S&P
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Standard & Poor’s has lifted the outlook on Sri Lanka’s speculative ‘B’ sovereign rating to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ on expectations of better policy under an International Monetary Fund program and capital inflows. A sovereign rating measures the creditworthiness of the government. Sri Lanka’s high spending governments, that frequently borrows from […]
Sri Lanka foreign reserves US$3.2bn: CB governor
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves have topped 3.2 billion dollars after a large inflow into the country’s government securities market, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. “You will see enormous opportunities,” Cabraal told a forum on Islamic financial instruments organized by Rating Agency Malaysia in Colombo. “There will be extraordinary positions […]
Sri Lankan stocks up 0.30-pct
Aug 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up Monday as institutional and high-net-worth investors traded the blue chip John Keells Holdings (JKH) which boosted turnover, while there was much retail interest on Lanka Cement, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed up 0.30 percent (7.54 points) to end at […]
Overlooking
Aug 24, 2009 (LBO) – Following the resignation of PABC chief executive Kimarli Fernando, deputy general manager has been appointed acting chief executive “with immediate effect,” the bank said in a stock exchange filing.Fernando had resigned with the effect from November 23, 2009, the statement said. Fernando joined PABC from the Colombo branch of Standard […]