Category: Industry
Taiwan Connection
Nov 27, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Ports Authority has signed a terminal service agreement with Wan-Hai lines of Taiwan to increase container traffic to the island.The three-year Terminal Service Agreement (TSA) will bring in a guaranteed amount of volume for the SLPA, says Irshad Musheen Executive Director of SLPA. “We are actually pleased as […]
Rated Footwear
Nov 24, 2006 (LBO) – An old-established family footwear company from the deep south of Sri Lanka, has published its credit rating, before entering the country’s debt markets through a debenture issue. The group’s origins dates back to the 1930’s and have interests in information technology, power generation and food processing. The holding company of […]
Home Bias
Nov 22, 2006 (LBO) – Government attempts to retain more re-insurance at home may reduce the quality of the cover available from the industry and concentrate too much risk in one geographical location, an international risk analyst has warned. Top local firms were now placing risks with re-insurers with ratings of A- or higher, but […]
Shadow of terrorism loiters over Asian Games
SINGAPORE, Nov 21, 2006 (AFP) – Qatar is seen as an island of stability in a volatile region, but a suicide car bombing last year sent shockwaves through the nation and it is taking no chances with security at the Asian Games. Organisers though are conscious that securiy should not overshadow what happens in the […]
High Rents
SINGAPORE, Nov 21, 2006 (AFP) – Tokyo has Asia’s most expensive office costs — and the second costliest in the world — with Hong Kong and Mumbai also in the world’s top ten, an industry report said Tuesday. Despite the rising costs, Singapore remains competitive against Tokyo and Hong Kong, he said. But he said […]
Open Doors
Nov 21 (LBO) – India on Tuesday lifted controversial controls on duty free imports of vanaspati oil from Sri Lanka, which had caused the shutdown of all local factories since June this year. An Indian gazette notice revoked controls that said all Sri Lankan vanaspati exports would have to go through a state run agricultural […]
Costly Letters
Nov 17, 2006 (LBO) – Delayed tariff revisions, fuel price hikes and wage bills have driven up losses at Sri Lanka™s Postal Department, to over a billion rupees in the first six months this year. According to provisional data by the Central Bank, operating losses as at June this year was up 13 percent to […]
Rupee Dips
November, 20 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee dipped to a new low of 109.40 against the dollar early Monday, while shares also closed weaker. The rupee strengthened later to 108.70 with state banks intervening to prop it up, dealers said. The rupee had been under pressure from the second quarter as the government stepped […]
Holy Banking
Nov 20, 2006 (LBO) – The Ceylinco group tied up Monday with Malaysia’s Centre for Islamic Finance to set up a faculty for Islamic financial studies in Sri Lanka. The Ceylinco Sussex Business School will roll out a Certified Islamic Finance Program locally, to meet a growing demand for trained professionals in Islamic finance, expected […]
Long Tenure
Nov 20 (LBO) – Seylan Merchant Bank said Monday it would float ten year listed debentures to raise long term funds to match its lending portfolio. The 95 million rupee debenture issue would be the first long-term listed debt instrument in the local market, opening for subscription on November 27, the company said in a […]
Road Builders
Nov 20, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has concluded talks with the Asian Development Bank for an additional 90 million dollars to expand the country’s Southern expressway, Treasury Secretary PB Jayasundera said Monday. The government wants to boost the government’s infrastructure investment to five percent of Gross Domestic Product over the next few years, Jayasundera […]
Southern Airport
WEERAWILA, Sri Lanka, Nov 19, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Sunday marked his first year in office by launching work on a new international airport to handle the giant Airbus A380 airliner and pledging a major new port.President Mahinda Rajapakse laid the foundation stone for a 125-million-dollar, 4,000-metre (13,200-feet) upgrade to a small airport […]