Category: Banking and Finance

Feb 21, 2008 (LBO) –Standard & Poor’s will start an office in India allowing a closer watch on Sri Lanka and other South Asian nations, the rating agency said. S&P had a subsidiary in India, CRISIL, but permission to set up a fully-owned subsidiary has only just been given. The South Asian office in Mumbai […]

Feb 21, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run savings giant, National Savings Bank entered the pensions market with a campaign specifically targeted at young savers, officials said. Sri Lanka’s central bank governor Nivard Cabraal said the scheme will give an opportunity for private sector workers to save for their retirement as formal pensions were only […]

Feb 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank has announced that its Deputy Chief Executive Officer Eran Wickramaratne will succeed Nihal Welikala as the Chief Executive from April 1 after the latter’s retirement. Both are former officers of the Citibank NA, Colombo. Wickramaratne joined NDB in April 1999 and has been closely associated with […]

Feb 15, 2008 (LBO) – International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector financing arm, has given a 75 million dollar standby loan for John Keells Holdings (JKH) which can be invested abroad, the firms said in a joint statement. “This will promote cross border business and growth of infrastructure across the region,” the statement […]

Feb 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sanasa Development Bank, which has roots in the micro-finance sector, will get cash from foreign partners to meet regulatory capital requirements, an official said. A unit of Singapore’s Orient Global has injected 71 million rupees in Sanasa and has received the regulatory nod to invest up to 15 […]

Feb 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon has tied up with financial giant JP Morgan Chase, to offer a foreign exchange card that can replace travellers cheques for people traveling abroad, the bank said. Foreign travellers could store the equivalent of between 500 to 10,000 dollars and use it as to […]

Feb 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank says it has linked up with US-based TradeCard Inc to provide import and export financing services that will cut transaction costs, especially in the apparel sector. “Partnering with TradeCard enables us to electronically deliver more trade financing options to our customers in Sri Lanka, NDB Bank […]

Feb 01, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has confirmed the ‘BBB (lka)’ national long-term rating of Singer Finance (Lanka) Limited (SF) with a ‘stable’ outlook. SF was established as a RFC in April 2004, and currently operates through five branches. “The principal factor taken into consideration in SF’s rating is the implied support assumed […]

Feb 01, 2008 (LBO) – Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) is planning to raise 500 million rupees from a rated commercial paper, Fitch Sri Lanka said, assigning the issue a short term rating of ‘F1 (lka)’. . “The assigned rating reflects the absence of an adverse shift in the maturities of the company’s interest bearing […]

Jan 31, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has confirmed the ‘BB+(lka)’ rating of Trade Finance and Investments, a company that has a strong focus on three wheeler vehicle finance, with a stable outlook. “TFI’s rating takes into consideration its high capitalisation and good profitability. However, the rating is constrained by TFI’s small asset base, […]

Jan 30, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank profits surged 56 percent to 504 million in 2007 as revenues grew 54 percent to 9.1 billion rupees, the company said.In the December quarter its profits grew 64 percent to 151 million rupees as revenues grew 109 percent to 2.7 billion rupees. “Despite loans and […]

Jan 30, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has confirmed an ‘A-(lka)’ rating on lease backed trust certificates (LBTCs) issued by Peoples’ Leasing Company, the rating agency said, as it kept close watch to ensure that delinquent and prepaying loans were replaced. Peoples’ Leasing Company (PLC) is also rated ‘A-(lka)’ with a ‘stable’ outlook. The […]