Category: Industry
Green Talk
The International Finance Corp (IFC) has offered a US$ 10 mn term loan facility to strengthen Commercial Banks lending portfolio.ldblquote We are finalising the terms and conditions, and the funds will go towards our medium-term dollar loans and other foreign currency lending facilities, dblquote Commercial Banks DGM, Ranjith Samaranayake told LBO. rn rnSri Lankas largest […]
Fresh Notes
Capitalising on recent budget initiatives, Nextventures Ltd, is seeking Rs. 300 mn through a private placement to start a new fund.Nextventures Fund One (Pvt) Ltd is a close-ended fund with a five-year life period.rn rnThe fund will mainly invest in lquote knowledge and technology based companies like software, e-commerce, networking, wireless, Internet infrastructure and so […]
Safe Hands
Commercial Bank of Ceylon has floated a share ownership trust called Jaycey Trust Services to acquire and hold shares on behalf of its employees.In a statement to the Colombo Stock Exchange, the bank said SEC rubber stamped the deal last week to buyback 5 percent of its shares held by Sri Lanka Insurance Corp at […]
Next Leap
Cellular operator Mobitel plans to triple its customer base with the launch of digital services from next month.The Mobile operator has already got the nod from its parent SLT to rise up to US$ 50 mn in the capital market for the expansion.rn rnThe roll out is to be backed by a corporate guarantee by […]
Sampath-DMS Tie Up
Improving levels of income and access to technology is expected to push up demand for e-commerce payment gateways services.Sampath Bank, which is banking on the demand for payment gateway services, signed an agreement with DMS for a state of the art system recently.rn rnldblquote Sri Lanka has about 3, 00,000 credit cards. Singapore has a […]
Profits Mirage
Peoples Bank reported a billion rupee in profits last year, the largest in its history.The bank has managed to now cut in half its negative net worth over the last two years.rn rnBut top management in an exclusive interview warned that profit numbers were not entirely due to an improvement in the banks performance.rn rnldblquote […]
Citibank First
Citibank became the only foreign bank to get a credit rating on the local scale when they made public their AAA rating. The bank says the rating obtained for franchise reasons will also be useful if the government makes it mandatory for commercial banks to make public their credit ratings.rn rnldblquote It is still not […]
Independent Opinion
Commercial Bank plans to tap the market for Rs. 4 bn with the backing of an issue rating from Fitch.The bank already has an AA+ rating for its senior debt.rn rnCommercial Bank says the issue rating which could be a notch lower than its senior debt rating will be made public.rn rnldblquote Whatever the rating, […]
Twisted Pair
Sri Lanka Telecoms (SLT) Japanese stakeholder NTT Communication says the government has violated is shareholders agreement by allowing new players into the international voice market.In a letter to the Mass Communications Ministrys Secretary on Friday, NTT says its fresh agreement with the government signed in November 2002 gave assurances that ldblquote no licences shall be […]
Cash Connect
New interconnection rules came into effect on Friday, setting the ground work for external gateway operators to negotiate network access. rnrnrnrnrnrnrnNew Page 1rn rnrnrnrnrn The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) on Monday rnissued the first batch of 21 External Gateway Operator (EGO) licences. rn rn EGOs are required to negotiate interconnection rates, rnpermission to terminate
On The Edge
Peoples Bank is waiting for a fresh lquote letter of comfort from the Treasury to sign off its 2002 financial statements.The Treasury last issued the letter on April 3 2002, but subsequently withdrew it, with the hope of finding fresh investors for Peoples Bank.rn rnThe bank has halved its Rs. 6 bn negative networth, after […]
Final Call
Sri Lanka Telecom is moving towards a two-tier tariff band to encourage people to talk more and pay less.The proposal forms part of its bigger plan for a 15 percent overall tariff increase.rn rnThe telecom giant submitted its fifth and final tariff-rebalancing proposal to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) last July.rn rnSLT also wants the […]