Category: Industry
Expensive Dreams
October 03 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lankans are still snapping up luxury cars like Audi’s despite stiff government taxes, to discourage vehicle sales and curb fuel consumption, officials said. “Looking at the monthly fuel consumption figures, I don’t see people reducing their usage. Neither do we see people not buying vehicles either,” Jayasundara told businessmen […]
Four Play
October 02, 2006 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom has picked up a radio and television frequency license, which gives them the edge to rollout a host of infotainment services ranging from television to mobile phone services. A unit of Telekom Malaysia, Dialog picked up the frequency by acquiring a 90 percent stake in Asset Media (Pvt) […]
Native Mobile
October 02 2006 (LBO) – Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, has sold over 5,000 handsets equipped with Sinhala language settings and keypads, since they were launched in Sri Lanka last week. Sri Lanka South Asian to offer mobile technologies way back in 1989, and the current 4-million subscriber market is split between Dialog […]
Gold Twist
October 1, 2006 (LBO) – In another twist to the continuing GoldQuest controversy, remaining officials of the anti-pyramiding unit, that probed the GoldQuest case have been transferred for better career prospects, and to complete other urgent work, senior central bank officials said. “We established the Unit to carry out investigations without disrupting the work of […]
New Ball
September 30, 2006 (LBO) — Ceylon Petroleum Corp. (CPC) Chairman Jaliya Medagama resigned Saturday citing personal reasons. Medagama will be succeeded by ex-cricketer Asantha de Mel. De Mel, who is currently the chairman of CPCs oil storage and distribution facility, is also believed to have close links with President Mahinda Rajapakse. In July, petroleum trade […]
Small Print
September 29, 2006 (LBO) – Commercial Bank of Ceylon secured a AA(lka) for its upcoming 1.5 billion rupee debenture, with Fitch Ratings asking the bank to match its growth with capital. Sri Lanka’s biggest private bank in terms of assets, Commercial Bank is raising debt with maturities ranging from 5-10 years to meet upcoming expansion […]
Hedge Advice
Sept 28, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should hedge oil prices to mitigate negative effects on the economy, by entering into contracts with foreign banks, the country’s central bank said in a statement. The Central Bank said it had made a presentation in early September to the President and Cabinet of Ministers to explain schemes […]
Streaming Fast
September 28 2006 (LBO) – India’s Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Thursday officially kicked off a 1.8 billion rupee undersea cable unit with Sri Lanka Telecom, which will bring down call rates between South Asian countries. The optical fibre cable, which run between Mt Lavinia (Sri Lanka) and Tuticorin in India, will enable SLT customers to […]
Mutual Benefits
Sept 28 (LBO) – Japan™s Asia Pacific University (APU) tied up with Sri Lanka™s Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the ICT Agency this week, offering training for small and medium businesses and state institutions. The Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University is the only university in Japan to offer an entire curriculum in English from undergraduate […]
Family Ties
September 28, 2006 (LBO) — The Strategic Enterprise Management Agency (SEMA) and top state bank officials are due to present a comprehensive proposal to the President to make state banks more competitive. According to the SEMA, the Peoples’ Bank pension fund is short of 8.3 billion rupees, Bank of Ceylon 2.5 billion rupees and NSB […]
Higher Bar
Sept 28 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government said Thursday that it would amend the country’s Finance Companies Act, to allow minimum capital requirements of finance companies to be raised. The government said earlier it would raise minimum capital requirements of finance companies from 100 million rupees to 200 million rupees, with companies given until […]
Precious Data
Sept 27, 2006 (LBO) – India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp and British Gas have bought up seismic data on potential oil deposits off Sri Lanka’s west coast, for two million dollars. Investors interested in potential oil reserves in the Mannar Basin could buy data from the Sri Lankan government, ahead of a bidding round […]