Category: Banking and Finance

April 26, 2007 (LBO) – Islamic Financier Amana Investments Limited has introduced a new microfinance scheme for micro-entrepreneurs who cannot afford conventional banking. The company has joined hands with Muslim Aid, a UK-based NGO that will help provide skills training to entrepreneurs. We target small entrepreneurs who cannot access banking and uplift them to a […]

April 25, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has affirmed Merchant Credit of Sri Lanka’s investment grade BBB (lka) rating but said the finance companies non-performing loans were on the rise and profitability had fallen. Fitch said the outlook was stable and the rating took into account the implied support assumed to be available from its […]

April 24, 2007 (LBO) – High negative real rates paid to savers have seen deposit growth at Sri Lanka’s National Savings Bank plunge to a record low in 2006, the bank’s latest accounts show. NSB said it was the first state sector enterprise to present its annual report to the public. NSB’s deposits grew by […]

April 23, 2007 (LBO) – The losses caused to a pension fund of two million Sri Lankan workers by the authorities through the use of a barely understood monetary technique reached a peak in 2006, according to the latest official data. “You know richer people, who can get the help of good accountants, good advisors […]

April 23, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka Orix Leasing Company, a listed leasing company, had hired Citibanker Kapila Jayawardena as Group Chief Executive Officer, the company told the Colombo Stock Exchange Monday. He would also be Managing Director/CEO of Lanka Orix Leasing Company. “Well I have been working mainly in the corporate banking arena. This gives […]

April 18, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka Wednesday confirmed Ceylease Financial Services Ltd’s (CFS) national long-term rating at ‘BBB-(lka)’ with a stable outlook, despite worsening solvency.Fitch says there is implied support from state-owned Bank of Ceylon, rated AA (lka), which owns 50 percent of the company. At the end of the 2006 financial year […]

April 18, 2007 (LBO) – Fledgling Islamic insurer, Amana Takaful Insurance (ATI), which was listed on the second board of the Colombo bourse last November, has reported a 57 percent growth in premium collections it the audited accounts for 2006. The company’s shares last traded at 31.50 at the close of market in April though […]

April 18, 2007 (LBO) – Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka, a listed subsidiary of the state-owned Bank of Ceylon, has received a AA3 rating for its proposed 600 million-rupee debenture, Lanka Rating Agency (LRA) said Wednesday. LRA says MBSL’s growth is capped by its funding. “The rating of the proposed debt issue is similar to […]

April 18, 2007 (LBO) – A small Sri Lankan finance company to which specializes in funding three-wheeled auto-rickshaws is showing high profitability, Fitch Ratings which assigned the firm a BB+ (lka) rating said Wednesday. About 95 percent of the assets of Trade Finance and Investments (TFI) in the 9-months ending December 2006 was in three-wheeler […]

April 15, 2007 (LBO) – Seylan Bank, whose rating outlook was downgraded to negative by Fitch may need a fresh equity addition to boost solvency, the rating agency has said. Seylan currently has a network of 92 island-wide branches. The bank is raising one billion rupees through a subordinated debenture to which for which a […]

April 04, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan police have completed investigations into the multi-billion rupee value-added tax refund fraud and are ready to prosecute seven suspects, officials said. Audits are conducted after refunds and are mandatory in the case of three consecutive refunds, he added. Deputy finance minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said the Criminal Investigations Department […]

March 20, 2007 (LBO) –John Keells Holdings has sold its restaurant business in Sri Lanka to a regional franchise holder for an undisclosed sum, the company said Friday. JKH said Keells Restaurants (Private) Limited and Crescat Restaurants (Private) Limited which held the franchises for Pizza Hut and Delifrance in Sri Lanka were sold to Gamma […]