Category: Banking and Finance

August 23, 2007 (LBO) – Allianz Lanka Insurance Company, a unit of German insurance giant Allianz SE said premium income grew 34 percent to 246 million rupees in the six months to June. Its pre-tax profits for the period shot up 275 percent to 17.4 million rupees from 4.6 million in 2006, the firm said […]

August 23, 2007 (LBO) – The spot dollar peaked at 112.35 against the Sri Lanka rupee Thursday as the local currency sought the next resistant level, dealers said. In the cash markets interbank rates remained around 20 percent with more access to the central bank’s discount window. The market closed at 112.30/40 rupees against the […]

August 20, 2007 (LBO) – National Development Bank’s net profit for the second quarter ending June 30, 2007 shot up 208 percent to 556 million rupees from 181 million in the same quarter of last year. Net other income of the bank, excluding equity income, for the period was 389 million rupees compared with 320 […]

August 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s banking sector assets had expanded 9.5 percent, with loans rising 11.2 percent against deposit growth of 7.6 percent, the Central Bank which regulates the sector said. . “Banking sector has shown a significant expansion during the first half of 2007 reflecting continued expansion in economic activity,” the Central […]

August 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank June quarter profits surged 78 percent with revenues going up by 21 percent despite flat loan growth, interim results filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange showed. Group net profit after tax grew to 458.6 million rupees in the three months ended June 2007 from 257.7 million […]

August 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HSBC bank, the top credit card issuer in the island has tightened credit card based lending in the face of a spike in defaults, officials said.“We have seen an increase in non-performing advances,” HSBC’s head of personal banking Simon Williams told LBO. “When inflation picks up and expenses […]

Aug 16, 2007 (LBO) – Net profits of Union Assurance surged 84 percent to 30 million rupees in the June quarter, interim accounts released by the insurer showed. General and life insurance premiums for the quarter grew by 23 percent, to 1.1 billon rupees in 2007 from 924 million in 2006. The firm paid 711 […]

August 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Eagle Insurance, a unit of Aviva, has reported sharply higher net profit for the June quarter of 50 million rupees up 203 percent, with higher investment income boosting the bottomline. “Eagle’s bancassurance partnerships with NDB bank and Standard Chartered Bank have continued to contribute positively to results in […]

Aug 14, 2007 (LBO) – Sampath Bank said Tuesday group after tax profit rose 22.5 percent to 329.6 million rupees for the quarter ending June 30, 2007. The group’s income was up 42 percent to 4.3 billion rupees from 3.0 billion, according to its results released to the stock exchange. The group’s interest income rose […]

August 14, 2007 (LBO) – The Finance Company (TFC), the flagship finance company of Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco group said it was putting off a cash call due to depressed market conditions. The firm’s company secretary P S Watson said in a stock exchange filing that the company had put off the cash for next year […]

August 14, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka Rating Agency (LRA) has confirmed the long-term rating of Sri Lanka’s LB Finance Ltd at BBB3, with a stable outlook. The short-term rating has also been confirmed at L3 An LRA statement said the ratings were based on LB Finance’s “improving financial performance and adequate asset quality” but were […]

August 13, 2007 (LBO) – HNB Assurance net profit after tax rose 17 percent to 10.9 million rupees for the second quarter ended June 2007 with revenue from motor insurance growing strongly. Gross written premium revenue for the period was up 32 percent to 322 million rupees, according to interim results. In the six months […]