Category: Banking and Finance

LONDON, May 11, 2009 (AFP) – Global banking giant HSBC said on Monday that profits were rising strongly on the basis of first-quarter data and it saw “robust” growth in China and India, while remaining cautious for the year. First-quarter pre-tax profits were “well ahead” of the figure for the same period of last year, […]

May 9, 2009 (LBO) – Two Sri Lankan financial firms, Lanka Orix Leasing Company and Sampath Bank are most likely to have submitted bids for a one-third stake in Seylan Bank, market sources said. The successful bidder would have to inject at least 5.7 billion rupees to the bank in return for a 33 percent […]

May 08, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank (NTB) said group net profit for the March quarter rose 25 percent to 180 million rupees from a year ago.The bottom line was boosted by higher interest income as well as earnings from bond and forex trading although loan growth has slowed. NTB said in […]

May 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank has reported group profits of 397.4 million rupees in the March quarter, up 22 percent over last year, while revenues climbed 18 percent to 6.1 billion rupees on the back of higher state financing. Loan loss provision rose to 423 million rupees but a recovery of […]

May 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said two short-listed prospective investors have submitted their bids for a controlling stake in Seylan Bank. Seylan is part of the troubled Ceylinco group. Seylan was put under the wings of state-run Bank of Ceylon by the regulator after a run on its deposits triggered by […]

May 05, 2009 (LBO) – Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) said its March quarter group net profit fell 5.8 percent to 29.8 million rupees from a year ago, with net interest income flat.MBSL is also acquiring control of Ceylinco Savings Bank (CSB), part of the troubled Ceylinco group, which suffered a run after another […]

May 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank which is collecting information on assets of Golden Key Credit Card, a collapsed financial firm, said its officials and past officials should declare assets by May 05. The Central Bank brought forward the deadline following a court order on April 27 which required information to be […]

April 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Bank said March quarter net profit rose 39 percent to 92 million rupees from a year ago, helped by a sharp rise non-interest income and steady growth in net interest income.The profit growth came despite sharply higher provisions for bad loans and a contraction in the […]

April 28, 2009 (LBO) – Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) said it had almost completed a deal to take control of Ceylinco Savings Bank, a member of the troubled Ceylinco group, for 100 million rupees.MBSL, a unit of state-run Bank of Ceylon, had been in talks with the banking regulator, the Central Bank, to […]

April 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon said its Bangladesh operations have been given an ‘A’ rating by the banking regulator in that country. Last year, the Commercial Bank’s operations in Bangladesh was awarded a rating of AA+ for long term credit, an upgrade from the previous rating of AA, by […]

April 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco Finance said it has decided to sell some of its assets to raise funds to improve its liquidity position.“The company made a decision to divest certain selected businesses and assets including property in Colombo, and land and buildings in suburban areas,” the company said in a stock […]

April 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has cleared five out of six parties who expressed interest in buying a 33.3 percent stake in Seylan Bank to look into the bank in detail and submit bids, officials said. The Central Bank took over the bank and put it under the supervision of state-run […]