Category: Banking and Finance

Sep 07, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank is offering companies an electronic payment service for Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) payments via its ˜Paymaster’ system. “Payments via Paymaster can be made by simply uploading a file to Commercial Bank’s web platform,” a statement said. “There are no limits to the number of transactions and […]

Sep 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank has begun concessionary long term lending from an investment fund created with savings made from tax cuts under a proposal made in the government’s 2011 budget. The statement said state institutions can now borrow direct from local banks instead of being dependent on Treasury borrowings from […]

Aug 29, 2011 (LBO) – HSBC Sri Lanka’s ‘AAA(lka)’ rating has been confirmed by Fitch Ratings Lanka with a stable outlook based on the strength of its parent which has a rating higher than the island’s sovereign rating. Fitch said HSBC Sri Lanka branch was part of the same legal entity of Hong Kong & […]

Aug 29, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has confirmed Sampath Bank’s (SB) National Long-Term rating at ‘AA-(lka)’ with a positive outlook. “The affirmation reflects SB’s strong asset quality and profitability, its comfortable equity buffer maintained against future loan losses, as well as its rapid growth from 2010,” the rating agency said in a statement. […]

Aug 22, 2011 (LBO ) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been rated ‘AA+’ by Ram Rating Lanka with a stable outlook, which the rating agency said was systemically important as the country’s largest private lender. “The ratings also reflect its strong franchise, healthy financial performance, funding, liquidity and capitalisation levels, as well […]

Aug 22, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has assigned Hatton National Bank’s (HNB) proposed subordinated debentures of up to 2.0 billion rupees a national long-term rating of ‘A+(lka)’. The issue is rated one notch below HNB’s national long-term rating reflecting its debt-like features, a statement said. The proposed debentures, to be listed on the […]

Aug 19, 2011 (LBO) – Thailand’s Centara leisure group will manage a hotel in Sri Lanka’s Southwestern coast which will have 160 rooms when it is expanded and refurbished next year, an official said. Softlogic has also signed up Swiss-based Movenpick Hotels and Resorts to manage a city hotel it is building in a plush […]

Aug 17, 2011 (LBO) – A combined men and women’s’ professional surfing event in Sri Lanka’s Arugam Bay sponsored by national carrier SriLankan Airlines will strengthen the island’s image as a sporting destination, officials said. “The motto of the Association of Surfing Professionals is to put the world’s best surfers with the world’s best waves. […]

Aug 18, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will set up a single tourism authority with industry participation as the apex body to set policy and regulate the sector, minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said. The minister may also appoint two others who are experts in marketing, law, finance or related profession. “The idea is have the government […]

Aug 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s LOLC group, which has interests in finance, trading, plantations, energy and leisure said profits for the June 2011 quarter rose 138 percent to 1.75 billion rupees from a year earlier, helped by a capital gain. The firm reported earnings of 3.63 for the quarter. The stock closed at […]

Aug 15, 2011 (LBO) – Group profits of Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank fell 8 percent to 396 million rupees in the June 2011 quarter with lower fee income and an 84 million write-off of an investment in the Maldives, interim accounts showed. The bank has earnings of 2.42 for the quarter and 6.10 for the […]

Aug 13, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank group’s net profit for the June 2011 quarter rose 6 percent to 1.29 billion rupees from a year earlier, amid tighter net interest growth, while revenues grew 6 percent to 10.1 billion rupees. Group loan loss provisions were a 73 million write back for the […]