Category: Banking and Finance

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

August 11, 2007 (LBO) – HSBC, Sri Lanka’s largest credit card issuer, has announced new technology to combat fraud but said its local acquiring network would be upgraded only in the first quarter of next year.In addition to the standard magnet strip, the new ‘smart’ cards issued from this month would have an embedded micro-processor […]

Aug 10, 2007 (LBO) – One of Sri Lanka’s top professionals in the fast-growing telecommunications industry has advised his peers to stay in the island despite problems, saying developing economies have more change and opportunity. “The General System of Preferences (GSP) scheme the state achieved was due to our ethical corporate behavior and very good […]

August 08, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank (HNB) group has reported a 35 percent increase in net profit to 682 million rupees for the second quarter ended June 2007 with provision for bad loans also increasing. The HNB group revenues were up 41 percent to 7.78 billion rupees, the bank said in […]

August 09, 2007 (LBO) – Trade finance involving shipment of goods by sea could lend itself to money laundering, a top international maritime fraud investigator has warned Sri Lanka’s shipping community. Companies involved in the transport of goods by sea and related business like banks should take more care in their transactions and know better […]

August 9, 2007 (LBO) – The United States has completed a program with a Sri Lanka state training institute to improve public sector finance skills of government officers, the US embassy in Colombo said. “U.S. Treasury focused on these objectives because of an urgent need to train young professionals in government service,” the embassy said […]

August 08, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said he will look at the banking sector’s reluctance to lend to ship-owners and called for new methods of financing that may allay the concerns of lenders. The island’s banks had hitherto been reluctant to provide ship financing as they were unfamiliar with […]

August 2, 2007 (LBO) – Eminent banker Pelanage Amarasinghe passed away on Wendesday August 01.He has served Sri Lanka’s banking sector for over 36 years as a central banker and later also in commercial banks. He retired from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka after becoming its Deputy Governor and was a former chairman of […]