Category: Banking and Finance

Sept 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Leasing Company (PLC) said net profit rose seven percent to 803 million rupees in the year ending March 31, 2008 and that it was diversifying its business to include ship finance. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 […]

WASHINGTON, September 15, 2008 (AFP) – US investment giant Lehman Brothers announced its bankruptcy early Monday as the Federal Reserve and major global banks moved to shore up financial market shaken by the housing and mortgage crisis.The Wall Street Journal warned in an editorial Monday that Americans should brace themselves for “a very rough Monday.” […]

FRANKFURT, September 15, 2008 (AFP) – The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) poured billions into money markets on Monday to ensure sufficient liquidity in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.He said he thought the Fed would try to avoid this step, which would be a “reversal of the […]

Sept 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Fitch Ratings has confirmed the ‘AA(lka)’ rating of state-run Bank of Ceylon, with ‘stable’ outlook, and said its exposure to the government had fallen, though it remained high.Fitch said the bank’s ‘Individual’ rating at ‘D/E’ and ‘Support’ rating at ‘4’, reflected its systemic importance as the largest bank […]

Sept 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank said the long term credit rating of its Bangladesh unit had been upgraded by one notch to AA+ from AA, by Credit Rating Information and Services Ltd (CRISIL). CRISIL had given it a ST-1 short term rating. Commercial Bank of Ceylon had bought Credit Agricole lndosuez […]

Sept 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Union Bank has reported strong loan growth in the six months ending June 30, bucking the industry trend, although net profit fell marginally, according to published results and a bank statement. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Performing […]

Sept 03, 2008 (LBO) – Asia continued to do well amidst global financial turmoil and Sri Lanka and the Maldives are set to perform well, despite an expected slowdown, a top HSBC official said. In Sri Lanka the bank has also been providing aggressively and has also become more cautious in its credit card business, […]

Sept 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s RAM Ratings says it has confirmed the ‘BBB’ national long term rating of Alliance Finance with a ‘stable’ outlook and also confirmed its ‘P2’ short term rating. “The ratings are supported by the company’s adequate asset quality and the resultant augmentation in its capital adequacy,” RAM Ratings said […]

Sept 02, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings says the underlying risks of Sri Lanka’s specialised leasing company sector have increased owing to high inflation and rising interest rates. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 While the larger firms are relatively more resilient to a continued […]

Sept 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HSBC will chase expatriate Sri Lankan customers through its overseas network banking on newly liberalized foreign deposit rules, a top official said.“We want to attract Sri Lanka diaspora in countries where we have branches and get deposits and remittances,” Nick Nicolaou, head of HSBC in Sri Lanka and […]

Sept 01, 2008 (LBO) – A former senior general manager of Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Harris Premaratne will head Sampath Bank, with the retirement of the current chief executive, the firm said in a stock exchange filing. Current chief executive Anil Amarasuriya will continue till December 2008 with Premaratne assuming duties as chief executive officer […]

Aug 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Standard Chartered Bank (SCBSL) branch has been given a AAA(lka) rating with a ‘stable’ outlook, Fitch Ratings said. Fitch said the rating reflected the financial strength of Standard Chartered A+ international rating which is higher than the B+ sovereign foreign currency rating of Sri Lanka. Fitch said the […]