Category: Banking and Finance

June 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon said it is starting an alternative banking services compliant with Islamic Sharia law, with a three member committee of scholars to ensure compliance. “As one of Sri Lanka’s largest private banks it is our obligation to ensure that the services the unit provides are […]

June 08, 2011 (LBO) – DFCC, a development finance institution (DFI) that also owns a commercial banking subsidiary said its credit approvals soared 117 percent in 2010 to 33 billion rupees amid lower interest rates though there was a lag in the drawdown of larger project loans. “¦[D]isbursements especially relating to larger projects tended to […]

June 07, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank plans to extend ‘gold loans’ through its branches country-wide offering higher advances and lower rates to encourage use of gold to raise funds. The bank will offer up to 80 percent of the gold value, in the form of jewellery, biscuits or bars, and an interest […]

May 31, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said 15 regulated finance companies have so far listed themselves on the Colombo Stock Exchange in response to a direction by the Central Bank and other are on the way. The Central Bank has set a deadline of June 30 for listings to be completed. The […]

May 27, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings said it had rated a proposed one billion rupee subordinated debenture ‘AA-(lka)’ by National Development Bank one notch below the bank’s long term ‘AA(lka)’ credit which has a stable outlook. Core profitability as measured by return on assets (adjusted for gains on equities and government securities) had increased […]

May 26, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Multi Finance Company Limited (MFCL) has been rated ‘B+(lka)’, four notches below investment grade, by Fitch with a ‘stable’ outlook. “MFCL’s rating reflects its small size, weak franchise, modest capitalisation and low profitability in its core business,” Fitch Ratings said in a statement. “The rating factors in the […]

May 24, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank wants to raise 9.7 billion rupees through a rights issue that would be followed by a share split to strengthen its capital base for future growth. The bank said in a stock exchange filing that the issue is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. It expects […]

May 23, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s LB Finance said net profits for the March 2011 grew 83 percent to 391 million rupees from a year earlier, with strong growth in lending during the past year and a steep increase in other income, interim accounts showed. Its government securities portfolio rose modestly to 1.6 billion […]

May 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan banks will soon be able to lend against moveable property with a new initiative by the Credit Information Bureau (CRIB), an official said. The CRIB plans to set up a ‘secured transaction registry’ from June 01, 2011 that will enable registration of moveable assets against which banks can […]

May 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank group said March 2011 quarter net profit doubled to 605 million rupees from a year ago as lending and deposits grew and it contained bad loans. Interest income fell two percent to 2.5 billion rupees while interest expenses fell four percent to 1.4 billion rupees […]

May 13, 2011 (LBO) – Bank of Ceylon, Sri Lanka’s biggest state-owned lender, said March 2011 quarter net profit shot up 163. 1 percent to almost 2.2 billion rupees from a year ago with interest income rising much faster than interest costs. Basic earnings per share rose 163.1 percent to 1,749 rupees, the bank’s interim […]

May 11, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank has changed plans to raise fresh capital by dropping a private placement and increasing a rights issue for existing shareholders, a stock exchange filing said. The amount of funds to be raised, to strengthen its capital and balance sheet and to support growth, has been […]