Category: Companies

July 26, 2006 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka Wednesday has upgraded the Lease Backed Trust Certificates issued by People’s Leasing Trust Nine to ‘A+(lka)’ from ‘A(lka)’. People’s Leasing trust nine, is a special purpose vehicle created by People’s Leasing Company of Sri Lanka (PLC) for the sole purpose of this transaction. The rating action says […]

July 5, 2006 (LBO) — Finance company Mercantile Investments Ltd, plans to float a fully-owned subsidiary to hold their leisure investments, a credit rating report said.George Ondaatjie family, which controls 56 percent of Mercantile Investments, currently owns these investments as associate companies. Mercantile Investments has three associate companies catering to the tourism segment: Royal Palms […]

June 26, 2006 (LBO) – Singer (Sri Lanka) Ltd secured a A+(lka) ratings for their upcoming four-year 600 million rupee debenture from Fitch Ratings Lanka, the rating agency said Monday. Fitch also affirmed Singer’s outstanding debentures: • 200 million rupees 2004/2008 • 250 million rupees 2004/2008 • 300 million rupees 2005/2009 • 400 million rupees […]

June 26, 2006 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka on Monday assigned a ‘BBB-(lka)’ rating for People’s Merchant Bank’s long-term debt, citing its parental backing and conservative management techniques, as a reason for it. “The rating reflects the potential support from its shareholders particularly People’s Bank (rated ‘A-(lka)’, which currently owns 39.0 percent of PMBs shares […]

June 22, 2006 (LBO) – The Bank of Ceylon is to increase foreign borrowings to 400 million dollars this year, to boost Sri Lanka’s balance of payments and give more fiscal space for the government, a senior government source said.The bank has already called for proposals from foreign banks to raise 200 million dollars through […]

June 6, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylease Financial Services – a unit of Bank of Ceylon – needs to pump up its capital to support their low income base and future provisional charges, Fitch Ratings Lanka warned Tuesday. Fitch, which assigned a ‘BBB-(lka)’ rating to Ceylease, says the credit rating reflects the firm’s parental […]

May 31, 2006 (LBO) – Hatton National Bank Ltd, the island’s fourth largest lender in terms of assets, got its credit profile upgraded to ‘A+(lka)’ by Fitch Ratings Lanka. With a positive outlook, the upgrade also elevates HNBs subordinated debt to ‘A (lka)’ from ‘A-(lka)’, the rating agency said Wednesday. Fitch gave HNB good marks […]

May 29, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s pioneering leasing firm Lanka Orix Leasing Company has secured an ‘A (lka)’ credit rating from Fitch Ratings Lanka. Part Japanese owned, LOLCs credit outlook is stable, the rating agency said Monday. “The rating takes into account the less diversified funding sources available to specialised leasing companies such as […]

Apr. 27 (LBO) – International rating agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor’s Thursday cut Sri Lanka’s credit outlook to negative from stable, reflecting the island’s worsening security situation. Should the violence become more widespread, adversely affecting the economy, public finances and donor inflows, Sri Lanka’s sovereign ratings could be downgraded, both agencies said. – Mel […]

Apr. 27 (LBO) – US credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s Thursday cut Sri Lanka Telecom’s credit outlook to negative from stable, in the wake of escalating violence, which may result in the country slipping back to war. The cash rich operator posted net profits of 3,093 million rupees, while revenues surged 10 percent to […]

Apr.06 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has upgraded Sampath Bank long term domestic rating to AA- (sri) on an improving financial profile.“Concerted recovery efforts and improved credit risk management have resulted in a steady improvement in the bank’s asset quality and solvency position,” Fitch said. “The bank has halved its gross NPLs (non-performing loan) ratio […]

Mar. 30 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank’s Rs1.22 billion debenture issue, which closes Friday has been privately placed mostly among institutions, with longer tenures running up to 18 years being snapped up by insurance firms, an official said. Fitch Ratings Lanka Thursday assigned a rating of A- (sri) and a stable outlook, for […]