Spending Power

Nov 02, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan conglomerate Hemas Holdings has reported a sharp fall in net profit for the September quarter as high inflation erodes consumer spending and high interest rates make borrowing for investments more costly. Group net profits fell 44 percent to 166 million in the second quarter ending September 2007, according […]

Blank Cheque

Nov 01, 2007 (LBO) – Tariff preferences available under European Union market access concessions are a ‘blank cheque’ for Sri Lankan exporters to penetrate sophisticated markets, trade officials said. Director of Commerce Kulatunga Perera said the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences Plus scheme will be reviewed in 2008 and that he was confident Sri Lanka […]

Greener Pastures

Oct 30, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should encourage more workers to seek employment abroad as worker remittances will immensely help economic development while reducing the government’s burden of creating job opportunities, UN officials say. Despite two decades war Sri Lanka has been able to sustain better growth and development as a result of increasing […]

Game Chat

October 29, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will play host to a crucial meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation general assembly next week to select a venue to host the 2014 games, organisers said Monday. More than 400 delegates from 71 Commonwealth nations who will gather in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo from November […]

Real Estate

Oct 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Property Development Ltd (PDL) has reported net profit for the third quarter ended September 30, 2007 rose 26 percent to 49 million rupees year-on-year. Revenue was static at 76.3 million rupees and the company benefited from a sharp rise in other operating income, mainly interest income, which rose […]

Free Visa

Oct 24, 2007 (LBO) – The United States government Wednesday urged Sri Lankans wishing to migrate to America to be vigilant of US Green Card resident visa scams. Some travel daily from Mexico to US while others settle down. The US government is unable to prosecute persons connected to bogus US Green Card web sites […]

Locked Up

BEIRUT, Oct 23, 2007 (AFP) – Locked up and cut off from her family for nine years, without even a penny for the endless scrubbing and washing up, Siriani knew it was time to flee or, as she says, die.Like thousands of Filipinas, Sri Lankans, Nepalese or Ethiopians, Siriani came to Beirut at the age […]

Dodgy Doctors

Oct 23, 2007 (LBO) – Some Sri Lankan doctors who work long hours attending to other people’s health, hide their wealth so well that they pay income tax on less than half their earnings, it was revealed at a recent investor forum. A health care professional working for a pharmaceuticals company told the forum organized […]

Migrant Votes

Oct 18, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan migrant workers who account for as much as 12 percent of voters are still denied the right to vote although they constitute the island’s second biggest foreign exchange earner. Commissioner of elections Dayananda Dissanayake told LBO migrant workers remain without the ability to vote because successive governments remained […]

High Stakes II

Oct 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence conglomerate Wednesday defended its claim to have made the highest bid for Colombo port’s new container terminal in partnership with PSA Corp. An Aitken Spence spokesman said a statement by rival bidder Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) was misleading and an attempt to change the rules for […]

Poor Health

Oct 17, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka Hospitals Corporation said its net loss for the first quarter of the 2008 financial year ended June 30 shot up 148 percent to 35.5 million rupees from 14.3 million in the same period last year. The Harry Jayawardene controlled company, which owns the Apollo Hospital, said in results reported […]

Jumbo Link

Oct 14, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will give a baby elephant to the Armenia zoo in exchange for veterinary training to an animal “suitable” for local conditions, a government minister said Sunday. Asokamala, the nine-year old female from the island’s elephant orphanage at the central village of Pinnawela will be sent to Armenia along […]

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