Category: Banking and Finance

Oct 31, 2013 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank group fell 17 percent to 535 million rupees in the September 2013 quarter from a year earlier, on higher loan losses, interim accounts showed.The group reported earnings of 1.55 rupees per share. For the nine months to September the group reported earnings of 4.46 […]

Oct 31, 2013 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has confirmed a ‘BBB(lka)’ investment grade rating of Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Bank but has lowered the outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘positive’.PABC accounted for 1.5% of banking sector assets in Sri Lanka at end-2012 and operated through a network of 73 branches. Fitch said there was an unanticipated […]

Oct 31, 2013 (LBO) – Nalin Wijekoon, has been appointed President of the Finance House Association of Sri Lanka, an industry body representing registered finance company. The association started in 1958 with 42 member firms. Wijekoon is chief executive of Softlogic Finance Plc. He has over 30 year’s experienced in the financial sector and has […]

Oct 31, 2013 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings said a 3.0 billion rupees subordinated debt offer of Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank has been given an expected ‘A-(lka)’ rating. The rating agency also confirmed a ‘A(lka)’ long term rating of the bank, which is a notch higher, with a stable outlook.’ “The ratings reflect NTB’s broadly […]

Oct 25, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank has raised 100 million US dollars from an international bond at yield around 9.6 percent, market sources said. The DFCC deal went to the market with a price guidance of 9.625 percent, and faced tough conditions, taking more than two days to close. According to earlier […]

Oct 25, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Union Bank said a foreign institution had expressed interest in the bank but no firm offer has been made.“A decision bu the said party to make an investment, if any, will be made only upon the completion of a detailed due diligence study on Union Bank and its […]

Oct 24, 2013 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has confirmed an ‘AAA(lka)’ rating Standard Chartered Bank’s Sri Lanka with a stable outlook. Fitch said SCB Sri Lanka’s loan book had contracted 7 percent in the first half of 2013 after expanding 18 percent in 2012 in line with a drop in lending seen in Sri Lankan […]

Oct 21, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka-based Commercial Bank of Ceylon, the island’s largest private lender by assets, said its unit in Bangladesh has launched an internet banking service. Commercial Bank customers in Bangladesh will be able to pay Grameen Phone Company bills and school fees. “Bangladesh has a rapidly growing customer segment that will […]

Oct 21, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HDFC Bank, a 51 percent state-owned mortgage lender said it was offering listed yielding as much 15.5 percent a year. HDFC Bank is offering 1.0 billion rupees of debt with an option to sell another 1.0 billion rupees in case the first tranche is oversubscribed. The firm is […]

Oct 19, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Citizens Development Business Finance, said it had got a 6 million US dollar credit line (780 million rupees) from a Belgian development finance agency.Carole Maman, financial sector director for BIO said CDB offered financial services to rural bottom-of-the-pyramic cystomers. “We appreciate the motivation and quality of CDB’s staff […]

Oct 16, 2013 (LBO) – International Finance Corporation, a unit of World Bank said it had invested 136 million US dollars in private firms in Sri Lanka over the past year, doubling its portfolio to 280 million US dollars. It had also invested in Cargills Bank, a start-up. IFC’s invested 25 million US dollars i […]

Oct 11, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s credit information office will give online access for individuals to check their own status and get reports, an official said.The Bureau has credit information about 600,000 credit records relating to 400,000 customers. Sri Lanka’s Credit Information Bureau (CRIB) collects information from customers of 95 institutions. The information is […]