Category: Economy and Markets
Sampath Bank records PBT of Rs18.3Bn for 2018
Feb 15, 2019 (LBO) – Sampath Bank recorded a profit before tax (PBT) of 18.3 billion rupees for the year ended 31st December 2018, up by 10.5 percent from a year earlier. Profit after tax (PAT) too registered a marginal growth of 0.3% from Rs 12.10 Bn in 2017 to Rs 12.14 Bn in 2018. […]
Central Bank to impose withdrawal restrictions for deposits of The Finance Company
Feb 15, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has proposed regulatory measures including suspension of accepting new deposits, restrictions on withdrawal of deposits and restricting disbursement of loans and advances to facilitate the restructuring process of The Finance Company (TFC). The Monetary Board at its recent meeting, having considered the weak financial performances of […]
EU opposes death penalty; €2.2bn exports under GSP+ from June 2017 – May 2018
Feb 15, 2019 (LBO) – The European Union (EU) has reiterated its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and encouraged Sri Lanka to maintain its moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. The EU and Sri Lanka held their 22nd meeting of the Joint Commission yesterday […]
MTD Walkers (KAPI) on the verge of collapse suffers another Rs1.5bn quarterly loss
February 15, 2019 (LBO) – Continuing its seemingly endless spiral into the inevitable abyss, CSE listed construction firm MTD Walkers (KAPI) reported a loss of approximately Rs1. 5bn for the quarter ended December 2018. Loss for the 9 months was well over Rs3bn after losses of over Rs2bn during the corresponding period in the prior […]
Sri Lanka growth at 3.5-pct in 2019 : Room to be better managed : World Bank
Feb 15, 2019 (LBO) – World Bank Vice President, South Asia Region, Hartwig Schafer says that he finds the island facing a challenging macroeconomic landscape and that the nations Gross Domestic Product could be managed in a more effective manner. “Although the people’s income levels are very high and you are about to reach upper […]
Sri Lanka Development Update: Navigating Sri Lanka’s demographic change
Feb 14, 2019 (LBO) – The latest edition of the World Bank’s Sri Lanka Development Update (SLDU) finds the island in a challenging macroeconomic landscape. The post-conflict high growth momentum has decelerated.A volatile global environment and structurally weak competitiveness continue to weaken growth and external sector performance. High interest costs mask limited fiscal improvement. The […]
Sri Lanka Trade Min. launches digital platform for small, informal biz
Feb 14, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has began work on the first national digital data bank for its SMEs and entrepreneurs recently with the backing of a Singaporean firm. Under the new initiative the National Enterprise Development Agency (NEDA) will execute a nationwide centralised database of all SMEs and entrepreneurs thereby boosting the performance […]
World Bank Vice President arrives in Sri Lanka to support country’s reform plans
Feb 13, 2019 (LBO) – The World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region, Hartwig Schafer arrived today on his first visit to Sri Lanka to gain a better understanding of the country’s development priorities and how the Bank can continue to support its critical reform agenda. “Sri Lanka has made good progress in reducing […]
Sri Lanka unemployment at 4.1-pct in Q3 2018
Feb 13, 2019 (LBO) – The number of unemployed persons is estimated as 346,998 during the third quarter 2018 or 4.1 percent, the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) said. The overall unemployment rate reported for female is 6.6 percent and it is 2.8 percent for male. Youth unemployment rate (age 15 – 24 years) […]
‘s Access Engineering records Rs.1.6Bn PAT for nine months
Feb 13, 2019 (LBO) – Access Engineering PLC, releasing its interim financial statements for the nine months December, 31 2018 said the company has recorded an impressive after tax profit of 1.66 billion rupees at Group level with a YoY increase of 43 percent. For the quarter ended December 31, 2018 the Group recorded a […]
‘s industrial production up by 1.2-pct in Dec 2018
Feb 13, 2019 (LBO) – The volume of industrial production in Sri Lanka has increased by 1.2 percent in the month of December, 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. Among the manufacturing industries; volume of products of ‘wood and products of wood and cork except furniture’(27.7 percent), ‘Beverages’ (14.0 percent) and ‘Manufacture of […]
Hayleys records third quarter PBT of Rs.1.7Bn
Feb 12, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lankan multinational, Hayleys PLC, recorded a strong all-round performance in the third quarter of 2018 (3Q18), as the Group turnover rose by 20 percent Year-on-Year( YoY) to 59.7 billion rupees bn, resulting in a sharp 80 percent YoY increase in Group’s Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation ( […]