India rates tied to fiscal discipline, Rajan signals Modi

Feb 03, 2016 (LBO) – India held interest rates unchanged on Tuesday with Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan sending a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that continued fiscal discipline was necessary for further interest rate cuts. “The Indian economy is currently being viewed as a beacon of stability because of the steady […]

‘s most valuable company

Feb 02, 2016 (LBO) – Google’s parent company, Alphabet has reported fourth quarter earnings driving up the company’s shares by over 8 percent, foreign media reported. Alphabet shares jumped after the strong earnings report, making Google worth roughly 544 billion US dollars though Apple’s market capitalization stood at 534 billion US dollars. That has made […]

Piramal Glass profits up 2.7 fold in Dec; wants pricing formula for furnace oil

Feb 01, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Piramal Glass Ceylon said profits in the quarter to December 2015 rose more than two fold to 166 million rupees from 61 million a year earlier despite concerns about the cost of Furnace oil. The firm which makes glassware saw revenues grow 11.6 percent to 1.78 billion rupees […]

Paypal to discuss Sri Lanka inward payments

Feb 01, 2016 (LBO) – The regional head of PayPal is to have discussions with Sri Lanka’s officials over freeing Paypal inward payments for citizens in the country, Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando said. “Regional head of PayPal will visit Sri Lanka this Wednesday. He is scheduled to have talks with Central Bank […]

Janashakthi Insurance completes amalgamation with AIA general

Jan 31, 2016 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s Janashakthi Insurance said it has now successfully completed the amalgamation process of Janashakthi General Insurance and AIA General Insurance Lanka. The company acquired the latter for a sum of 3.2 billion rupees in October 2015. “The acquisition of AIA General Insurance Lanka Limited marked a significant step in our […]

Vietnam can access South Asian markets through Sri Lanka: Harsha

Jan 31, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs said the island intends to strengthen and forge stronger economic links with Vietnam while the nation could enter the South Asian market through investments here. “More and more Vietnamese business ventures could explore the potential of Sri Lanka’s business and market environment where […]

John Keells Holdings 9-month net up 6-pct, 3Q net down

Jan 29, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s diversified John Keells Holdings said group net profit grew six percent in the nine months to December despite a weaker performance in transportation, leisure, information technology and plantation sectors in the third quarter. Net profit grew six percent to 10.6 billion rupees in the nine months to December, […]

Sri Lanka stocks close up 0.3-pct; Low investor activity

Jan 29, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed up 0.32 percent in anticipation of positive earrings and attractive Price Earrings levels with gains in banking stocks, brokers said. The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed up 20.16 points at 6,340.05 up 0.32 percent. S&P SL20 closed 22.24 points up at 3,302.01 up 0.68 […]

Sri Lanka deepening trade agreements, exploring China FTA: Malik

Jan 29, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is deepening its free trade agreements with India and Pakistan, and negotiating an FTA with China, Malik Samarawickrama, minister of development strategies and international trade, said. “PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ strategy will create opportunities for linking into new and expanding value chains in domestic as well as […]

Colombo inflation drops below 1-pct in January

Jan 29, 2016 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo has dropped to 0.9 percent in January 2016 from a year earlier, down from 2.8 percent in December 2015 with the inflation index dropping 0.2 percent in the month, the state statistics office said. The CCPI for all items for the month of […]

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