Category: Banking and Finance

Dec 01, 2011 (LBO) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, has given a seven-year, 65 million US dollars financing facility to Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank to expand its lending to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). IFC said it believes that the future flow structure employed in the transaction with […]

Nov 29, 2011 (LBO) – Several Sri Lankan lenders will visit Oman and Qatar in December as part of plans to encourage banks to borrow abroad, Deputy Governor Dharma Dheerasinghe said. To encourage banks in the initial stages the Central Bank will also give some comfort through a swap contract to mitigate foreign exchange risk. […]

Nov 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank, which has the franchise for American Express, has said its credit card business is recovering after being hit by interest rate restrictions imposed by the banking regulator. Renuka Fernando, NTB’s deputy chief executive, said the bank has been able to increase credit card business volumes […]

Nov 25, 2011 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has upgraded LB Finance’s (LBF) long- and short-term financial institution ratings, from BBB+/P2 to A-/P2, with the long-term rating given a stable outlook. The rating agency has also revised upwards the long-term ratings of LBF’s debt issues, s statement said. “The upgraded ratings reflect LBF’s consistently expanding […]

Nov 24, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon is now offering Non-Resident Foreign Currency (NRFC) accounts in Chinese yuan following its inclusion as a ‘designated currency’ by the Central Bank. A statement said the move comes several weeks after the bank began offering customers the option of transacting in yuan for export […]

Nov 23, 2011 (LBO) – People’s Leasing Co., Sri Lanka’s largest leasing company, said September 30, 2011 quarter net profit rose 65 percent to 790 million rupees helped by gains from vehicle sales and Islamic finance and lower provisioning. Earnings per share rose 73 percent to 64 cents in the quarter from 37 cents a […]

Nov 20, 2011 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s HDBC Bank, a mortgage lender fell 52 percent to 8. 1 million rupees in the September 2011 quarter from a year earlier, despite better margins, due to lower fee income, interim accounts showed. The firm reported earnings of 1.27 rupees per share for the quarter. It […]

Nov 19, 2011 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s Vallibel Finance, rose 157 percent to 60.1 million rupees in the September 2011 quarter from a year earlier, helped by strong loan growth and other income, interim accounts showed. Lost loss provisions rose 42 percent to 2.8 million rupees. Other income rose 195 percent to 25. […]

Nov 17, 2011 (LBO) – Asia Asset Finance Limited (AAFL), a Sri Lankan registered finance company that is part of the Asia Capital group, plans to go public with an initial public offer of 120 million shares at 2. 50 rupees each. The issue opens on November 28, 2011 with the shares to be listed […]

Nov 17, 2011 (LBO) – An initial public offer of 390 million shares by Sri Lanka’s People’s Leasing Company at 18 rupees each has seen lower than expected demand in most investor categories. The IPO by the island’s largest leasing company to raise 7. 0 billion rupees was oversubscribed by 1.3 times, drawing 9,843 applications […]

Nov 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank plans to become a ‘nationwide’ bank with a fast branch expansion targeting both savers and small businesses, replicating a banking model tried on rich retail and corporate clients. Renuka Fernando, NTB’s deputy chief executive, said the bank will rapidly expand outside Colombo, setting up 15 […]

Nov 16, 2011 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank fell 20 percent to 620 million rupees in the September 2011 quarter from a year earlier, on weaker non-interest income, interim accounts showed Earnings per share for the quarter are 3. 78 rupees. For the 9-months the bank is reporting earnings of 10. 40 […]