Category: Banking and Finance

June 02, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s LOLC group, which has interest ranging from financial services, property, leisure and plantations, posted net profits in the March 2012 quarter rose 232 percent to 1. 99 billion rupees, helped by strong other income and fair value gains. Leisure made 2.3 billion rupees helped by 2.8 billion rupees […]

June 01, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s The Finance Company Plc, which is under regulatory restructure lost 212 million rupees in the March 2012 quarter, sharply lower than the 2.0 billion it lost a year earlier. The firm reported losses of 1.33 rupees per share for the quarter. In the full year to March 2012 […]

May 28, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said, The Finance Company, a firm that is being bailed out under regulatory supervision is stable and expressed confidence that it will return to profits. The Central Bank said The Finance has increased its deposits by 5.36 percent and its lending portfolio by 11 percent in […]

May 28, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasury secretary P B Jayasundera said banks should lend more to agriculture and slammed lenders for financing too much trade and consumption activities. He said only about 3.0 percent of total credit is given to the tea sector, about 0.5 percent to fisheries. “Instead money goes to consumption […]

May 26, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka DFCC Vardhana Bank’s profits in the March 2012 quarter rose 161 percent to 150 million rupees from a year earlier, helped by higher business volumes and provision reversals, interim accounts showed. The bank’s gross non-performing loan ratio grew to 4.54 percent by end March from 4.35 percent in […]

May 24, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s securities watchdog has suspended the chief executive of Taprobane Securities Private Limited, pending a probe related to a controversial share transaction between a stat bank and a troubled finance company. In a directive to the chairman and board of directors of Taprobane Securities on May 23, the Securities […]

May 24, 2012 (LBO)- Fitch Ratings agency on Thursday cut Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank’s credit outlook to negative, from stable, but its underlying rating was confirmed at ‘AA(lka)’. NDB’s subordinated debentures were also confirmed at ‘AA-(lka)’. Fitch said the cut reflects NDB’s increased risk profile in terms of its decreasing capitalisation alongside aggressive loan […]

May 23, 2012 (LBO) — Fraudulent practices across business activities has risen over the past two-years in Sri Lanka, with billions of rupees lost each year to economic crime, a new study showed. Awareness of fraud is always the first step towards managing the issue. It’s the first step towards beginning a new era of […]

May 22, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank said it had appointed Trevine Fernandopulle, a senior banker, as its executive vice president and group chief risk officer. Fernandopulle was earlier deputy chief executive at Sri Lanka’s HSBC unit and been chief risk officer at state-run Bank of Ceylon and credit risk manager at Saudi […]

May 22, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank PLC retained its AA-(lka) rating from Ftich Ratings, but the risk evaluator warned the bank’s ratings was constrained by exposure to weak lending to the Maldives. One of Sri Lanka’s biggest privately-held banks, HNB retained its stable outlook, while Fitch also affirmed the lender’s sub-ordinated […]

May 20, 2012 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s HDFC Bank, a mortgage lender quarter rose 79 percent to 125 million rupees the March 2012 quarter helped by higher interest income, interim accounts showed. The bank reported earnings of 1. 94 rupees for the quarter. The stock traded at 54.60 rupees, up 80 cents Friday. […]

May 16, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon, the country’s largest bank said group profits increased 104 percent to 4.4 billion rupees from a year earlier helped by strong foreign exchange earnings. The group provided 49 million rupees for loan losses in the March 2012 quarter compared with a provision reversal of […]