Category: Industry
Mutual Benefits
February 22 (LBO) – A tax-efficient closed-end fixed income mutual fund launched by National Asset Management (NAMAL) is already attracting commitments from the corporate sector, officials said. But monetary policy has been tightened since December, sending market interest rates shooting up. The NAMAL Flexi Income Fund will invest mostly in better yielding corporate bonds and […]
Shelter
February 21 (LBO) – The World Bank is helping tens of thousands Muslim victims of Tamil Tiger ‘ethnic cleansing’ who were driven out of the northern Jaffna peninsular, to build their own homes through a new project approved this week. Recent fighting in eastern Sri Lanka has created new refugees, but some have started to […]
Sad End
TYRE, Lebanon, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – The body of a Sri Lankan housemaid, missing since Israeli missiles struck the building where she worked during last summer’s war in Lebanon, was found Wednesday, police said.The body of the 35-year-old woman, whose name was not given, was found on the seventh floor of the building in […]
Housing Billion
February, 21 (LBO) – HDFC Bank, Sri Lanka’s largest mortgage lender, is to raise one billion rupees in 10-year funds through a mortgage securitization issue to fund their growing housing loan book, an official said.At the end of September 2006, the bank had 8.5 billion rupees of performing advances and assets of 10.2 billion rupees. […]
Upside Protection
February, 20 (LBO) – Ceylon Petroleum Corporation wants to hedge 300,000 barrels of diesel before the end of the month, but is looking for better upside protection, an official said. Firms like Sri Lankan airlines hedges more than 70 percent of its oil though it is done by Emirates in Dubai. Last week it bought […]
Native Feel
February 20 (LBO) – Microsoft’s new Vista operating system, which comes with built in Sinhala language capability would open a high technology window for rural Sri Lankans, officials said. “The main objective of having Sinhala language in our own operating system is to enable people to interact with the computer,” says Imran Vilcassim, a Microsoft […]
Smooth Talking
COLOMBO, Feb 20, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s telecom sector soared in 2006 to 7.3 million users, led by a 59 percent jump in new mobile phone connections on competition and falling call rates, the telecom watchdog said Tuesday. Despite a waiting list of around 366,000 for fixed-line phone services, the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory […]
Tele Research
Feb 20 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom tied up with the Peradeniya University recently to support information technology research and development for application in sociology, agriculture and medicine. œThis will create a platform for researchers from various disciplines to come together and take part in research and development activities, Shoji Takahashi, Chief Executive Officer of […]
Upper Limits
February 20 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank on Tuesday revised the requirements on single borrower limits to promote better risk management of banks. The new regulations allow individuals or single entities the ability to borrow up to 30 percent of the capital base of the bank. The single borrower limit goes up to 33 […]
Insurance Appetite
February 20 (LBO) – One of Sri Lanka’s youngest listed insurance firms, HNB Assurance closed up 8 percent Tuesday after declaring a one-for-two bonus issue following a 51 percent surge in profits for 2006. HNB Assurance closed up 2.50 rupees at 33.50 after peaking at 37 after the bonus announcement. A subsidiary of Hatton National […]
Sri Lanka look to deliver huge surprise at World Cup
NEW DELHI, Feb 19, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will be keen to maintain their recently-acquired reputation of doing consistently well away from home when they begin their World Cup campaign in the Caribbean.None of the three other sub-continent sides can match an impressive record of Mahela Jayawardene’s Sri Lankans, who won more than 50 […]
Loud Numbers
February 19, 2006 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka’s largest cellular phone operator, Monday posted a 44 percent rise in net profits for the 12 months to December, and said it plans to cover 100 percent of the island by end 2007. A unit of Telekom Malaysia, Dialog Telekom, reported a 10.12 billion rupee group […]