Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka JKH profits drop 44-pct
Jan 29, 2009 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings group fell 44 percent to 764 million rupees in the December 2008 quarter, with revenues dropping 16 percent to 9.3 billion, its interim accounts said.In the 9-months to December profits fell 19 percent to 2.6 billion rupees, while revenue grew 7 percent to […]
Sri Lankan markets close up 1.2-pct
Jan 29, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka stocks closed up 1.25 percent Thursday driven by renewed retail confidence on expectations of a quick end to the military conflict in the north, brokers said.Foreign buying was at 13.80 million rupees, while foreign selling was at 24.57 million rupees. The military said they found abandoned Tamil Tiger […]
Sri Lanka Treasuries yields extend fall
Jan 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasury bill yields extended falls with the popular 3-month yield falling 24 basis points to 15.94 percent and the 12-month yield falling 0.04 basis points to 17.56 percent, the government’s debt office said. Meanwhile in the inter bank market the central bank had printed 20 billion rupees to […]
Sri Lanka banks asked to suspend oil derivatives by central bank
Jan 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank says it has asked commercial banks which sold oil derivatives to state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to suspend the deals because they violated its prudential rules and were ‘tainted’.The banks had already offered to ‘re-structure’ the deals by extending payments over a longer period.The deals were […]
Sri Lanka stocks mixed, heavy trading in Lanka Cement
Jan 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended barely changed Wednesday with Lanka Cement the most actively traded on anticipation of a revival in its fortunes if the war ends soon and construction activity picks up, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 […]
Sri Lanka stocks fall on profit taking
Jan 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan share prices fell on profit taking Tuesday after a sharp rise the day before, but Commercial Bank gained on a court ruling that ended a freeze on oil hedge payments by the state oil refiner. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and […]
Sri Lanka court allows oil derivative payments
Jan 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ended a freeze on payments by state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to commercial banks on derivatives of nearly a million barrels of crude and refined products.In November 2008 Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court halted payments by CPC on oil derivatives struck with Citibank, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank, […]
Sri Lanka stocks lifted by war victories, higher tea prices
Jan 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan share prices rose 3.19 percent Monday as investor sentiment was buoyed by more military gains against Tamil Tiger rebels with the fall of a guerrilla stronghold and selective buying by funds.Investments funds and high-net-worth individual investors also appeared to be slowly returning to the market after staying away […]
Sri Lanka Treasury bill yields fall
Jan 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Treasury bill yields fell across maturities at Wednesday’s auction with the government raising 4.7 billion rupees, the government’s debt office, which is a unit of the central bank, said. The 3-month yield fell 61 basis points to 16.18 percent. The 6-month yield fell 33 basis points to 16.89 […]
Sri Lanka central bank targets diaspora, currency swaps: interview
Jan 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank says it will persevere with its quantity targeting regime this year but also use other instruments if needed. It is also negotiating currency swaps with other central banks to have greater access to foreign currency. A weakening economic outlook at home and global economic troubles has […]
Sri Lanka stocks fall as small investor-led rally fizzles out
Jan 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan share prices fell almost five percent Wednesday with small investors not having the holding power to sustain the minor rally they had fired in recent days, brokers said.Prices of most shares fell Wednesday including plantations which had drawn investor interest after tea prices at the Colombo auctions recovered. […]
Sri Lanka World Bank head says global crisis failure of government
Jan 20, 2009 (LBO) – The meltdown of the global economic system is not a collapse of capitalism and markets but rather a failure of government, World Bank’s Sri Lanka country director Naoko Ishii said.Ishii said the collapse of banks and falling prices of financial markets have been interpreted by some as a failure of […]