Category: Banking and Finance

June 19, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank (HNB) and DFCC Bank have set up a joint venture investment bank that they said would be better able to compete in local and regional markets. The joint venture called Acuity Partners (Pvt) Ltd., with an initial capital of 500 million rupees, will see the […]

June 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Leasing Company (PLC), a unit of state-run People’s Bank, will sell a 200 million rupee 12-month debenture, Fitch Ratings, which gave the issue an ”F1(lka)’ rating, said. A ‘F1(lka)’ national short-term rating indicates the strongest capacity for timely payment of financial commitments relative to other issuers or […]

June 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it has prepared a draft code of corporate governance for registered finance companies, based on the directions issued to licensed banks, that will come into effect from January 2009. It said in a statement that the draft took into consideration the views expressed by the […]

June 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank is offering a rate of 12.5 percent a year for savings deposits which maintain a balance of more than 50,000 rupees, the bank said. The savings deposit scheme branded ‘Hit Saver’ gives an annual effective rate of 13.24 percent, the bank said in a statement Friday. […]

June 11, 2008 (LBO) – Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC), which introduced Islamic financing in Sri Lanka, says it wants to expand its portfolio to one billion rupees in one year, with growth so far relying on word-of-mouth publicity. “We are on a growth trend and we feel that the turbulence that we are seeing […]

June 10, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) group said net profits for the year ended March 2008 was up 21 percent with revenue growing 50 percent though rising interest costs trimmed profits at company level. Group net profits rose to 1.26 billion rupees from 1.04 billion, while gross revenues rose […]

June 05, 2008 (LBO) – Commercial Bank of Ceylon has started giving discounts previously limited to credit card customers to the bank’s debit card holders, which has seen increased use following a credit card transaction tax, the bank said. Chief manager of Commercial Bank’s card centre, Lakshaman Perera said in a statement that a one […]

June 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank has called for proposals to develop a prime property it owns in the heart of the capital Colombo in a joint venture. The property market has been showing signs of cooling in recent months but prime locations such as Colombo 7 would always be pricey, analysts […]

June 02, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has lifted the credit watch on Commercial Leasing Company (CLC), following a take-over, and confirmed its ‘A-(lka)’ rating with a ‘stable’ outlook. CLC was taken over by Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) last month and was put on credit watch on May 16. The resolution of the […]

May 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said financial institutions would have to open two branches outside the fast growing Western province to be allowed to open one in the area, which also contains the capital, Colombo. “Further, increased availability of bank branches and other outlets would enable people in the regions to […]

June 2, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has allowed commercial banks to raise deposits from foreigners for their domestic banking units, from June 02, the Central Bank said. Analysts say the ability to raise more deposits (borrow abroad) may fill the dearth of dollars in the banking system which has helped create an interest rate […]

June 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank said group net profit for the March quarter rose 16 percent to 349 million rupees from a year ago with loan growth slow but with a tight control on bad loans. Total group income went up 45 percent to three billion rupees in the quarter […]