Category: Banking and Finance

Nov 19, 2007 (LBO) – The piercing of the sovereign ceiling by a Sri Lankan telco has raised hopes of better credit ratings for the country’s top companies, which have been saddled with junk ratings due the parlous state of the government’s own finances. Last week, S&P upgraded the credit rating of Sri Lanka Telecom […]

Nov 19, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has confirmed Sri Lanka Telecom’s BB- rating with a negative outlook and its AAA (lka) national rating with a stable outlook, the agency said Monday. “SLT’s ratings reflect the company’s strong positive free cash flow generation, its strong and improving financial profile and entrenched market position,” the rating […]

Nov 19, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka said Friday it has confirmed the ‘BB+(lka)’ National Long-term rating of Seylan Merchant Leasing Limited (SML). The Outlook on the rating is Stable. “SML’s rating reflects its modest financial profile, short operating history and limited revenue diversity,” Fitch Ratings said. “The rating also factors in the implied […]

Nov 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned Bank of Ceylon (BOC), the main commercial banker to the government, is planning to raise six billion rupees in debt next year to beef up regulatory capital, a top official said. At the rate we are growing the loan book we will have a two billion rupee […]

Nov 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s banks said they would dump customers who paid for child pornography though their services and would also report them to the regulator. The banks said Friday they would have “heightened watchfulness” on credit cards and “other methods of transaction[s] relating to child pornography”. The customers would be reported […]

Nov 15, 2007 (LBO) – Commercial Bank of Ceylon has reported a net profit growth of 30 percent to 1.1 billion rupees in the quarter ended September 2007 with foreign exchange earnings almost doubling to 519 million rupees. Total revenues grew 56 percent to 9.4 billion rupees, with net interest income also keeping pace at […]

Nov 14, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank (NDB) net profit for the September rose 45 percent to 298 million rupees, with a deferred taxation adjustment helping counter higher provisions for bad loans. Total group income for the quarter increased to 2.6 billion rupees from 1.7 billion rupees, according to interim results filed […]

Nov 14, 2007 (LBO) – One of the youngest stockbrokering firms in Sri Lanka, which started as a unit of the First Capital Group is now operating as an independent entity as a with the group selling out its stake. First Capital Equities is formally changing its name to First Guardian Equities from today, the […]

Nov 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Seylan Bank group’s after tax profits increased 41.4 percent in the third quarter ending in September while turnover grew by 27.3 percent with a relatively flat loan growth. Group net profit after tax grew to 150.7 million rupees in the three months ended September 2007 from 106.6 million […]

Nov 12, 2007 (LBO) – Loan guarantees given by the Sri Lanka government to financial institutions shot up 45 percent in 2007 as the state took over credit risks of large power projects, newly published documents have revealed. Disclosures under Sri Lanka’s fiscal responsibility law shows that total loan guarantees given to financial institutions are […]

Nov 09, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has affirmed the National Savings Bank’s (NSB) ‘AAA(lka)’ rating with a stable outlook, but said high taxes and narrower margins were eroding profitability. “The rating reflects the full state ownership of the bank, low credit risk on its assets due to its significant exposure to government securities […]

Nov 08, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s shaky budgets and complementary monetary policy are the biggest dangers to the banking system, an international rating agency has warned. Fitch Ratings says the ongoing internal war and even the December 2004 tsunami had little direct impact on the stability of Sri Lanka’s banking system. “However, the state’s […]