Category: Banking and Finance

Oct 03, 2012 (LBO) – People’s Leasing Company, Sri Lanka’s largest leasing firm said it has changed its name to People’s Leasing & Finance Plc. The firm has a ‘AA-(lka)’ domestic rating and B+ international rating from Fitch. It also has a B+ rating from Standard and Poor’s. In July the company has applied to […]

Oct 03, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank says there is international investor appetite for bond for large projects in the island, including public private partnerships which are beyond the capacity of domestic financial markets. NDB Bank group, which has an investment banking relationship with Singapore’s DBS has had preliminary investor meetings with foreign […]

Oct 02, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank group will use a part of the cash from a 59 million US dollar exit from an insurance unit for regional expansion, chief executive Russel de Mel said. “We are looking for regional expansion,” de Mel said. “Though we have 30 years of experience as a […]

Sept 25, 2012 (LBO) – RAM Ratings has confirmed a ‘BBB-‘ long term and ‘P3’ short term rating of Sri Lanka’s Softlogic Finance PLC, with a stable outlook. Where SLF’s funding mix was previously dominated by borrowings, deposits now form the bulk, following a 195.42% y-o-y surge in deposits in FY Mar 2012. Its loan-todeposit […]

Sept 20, 2012 (LBO) – An ‘A-(lka)’ rating of Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank, the island’s sixth largest bank has been confirmed by Fitch Ratings with a stable outlook on expectations of state support. “Seylan’s rating reflects Fitch’s expectations of support from the State of Sri Lanka if required, given the bank’s systemic importance,” the rating […]

Sept 20, 2012 (LBO) – RAM Ratings has confirmed an ‘AAA’ long term and ‘P1’ short term rating of Sri Lanka’s Standard Chartered Bank branch, with a stable outlook. The full statement is reproduced below: RAM Ratings Lanka reaffirms AAA/P1 rating to Standard Chartered Bank-Sri Lanka branch RAM Ratings Lanka has reaffirmed the respective long- […]

Sept 17, 2012 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has confirmed an ‘AAA(lka)’ rating of Sri Lanka’s Standard Chartered Bank brand based on support from its parent. The bank is facing a 27 billion rupee fine related to an alleged exchange control violation which has been appealed, but Fitch says it is likely that there will be […]

Sept 16, 2012 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has confirmed an ‘AAA(lka)’ rating of Sri Lanka’s HSBC branch with a stable outlook, citing support from its parent, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. HSBCSL’s National Long-Term Rating is at the highest end of the National Rating scale. A downgrade of HSBCSL rating could result from HKSB’s […]

Sept 15, 2012 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has confirmed an ‘AAA(lka)’ rating of the Sri Lanka branch of Citibank with a stable outlook, saying it is strongly capitalized and had support would be available from the parent unit. The bank had no bad loans but had a 44 percent concentration on the appare sector. The […]

Aug 31, 2012 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s Standard Chartered Bank unit rose 20. 9 percent to 1.52 billion rupees in the six months to June 2012 from a year earlier, helped by a surge in forex income, published accounts showed. Total performing loans rose only 5.9 percent to 46.8 billion rupees in the […]

Aug 30, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s former war zones in the north and the east and areas in the South hit by a tsunami in 2004 will get housing loans from DFCC Vardhana Bank financed by a 15 million US dollar credit from Asian Development Bank. ADB said it the loan from its private […]

Aug 30, 2012 (LBO) – Several banks in Sri Lanka will suspend recovering farmer loans in drought stricken areas on an order made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, information minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. The moratorium came after representations made by farmers when President Rajapaksa visited drought stricken areas recently, minister Rambukwelle said. The debt moratorium applies […]