Category: Industry
Sri Lanka hotel occupancy rates down
Jan 29, 2013 (LBO) – Occupancy rates at Sri Lanka’s hotels had slipped across star categories in November 2012 from a year earlier, worsening from October despite arrivals going up, official data show. Sri Lanka full year tourist arrivals rose 17.5 percent to 1,005,605 in 2012. The average occupancy rates of hotels tracked by the […]
Debt Protection
Jan 28, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Electricity Board may be asked to import fuel directly to protect the main petroleum distributor from mounting unpaid dues, a media report said.A temporary surcharge on electricity was imposed in February 2012 as part of measures to avert a balance of payments crisis partly triggered by […]
Oil Law
Jan 26, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will update its petroleum exploration law to bring the rule in line with the latest international practices, information minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said.Amendments to Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Resources Act, No.26 of 2003, have been approved by the cabinet of ministers, he said. The changes proposed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa […]
Sri Lanka Keells hotels net down 22-pct
Jan 26, 2013 (LBO) – Keells Hotels Plc, which has operations in Sri Lanka and the Maldives said net profit for the December 2012 quarter fell 22 percent to 222 million rupees from a year earlier, amid higher interest costs.In the nine months to December Keells Hotels’ Sri Lanka operations lost 117 million rupees, reversing […]
Sri Lanka regulator starts power price revision process
Jan 24, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s power regulator has kicked off a process to revise tariffs saying it has received cost estimates from the main state-run transmission and distribution licensee. Regular energy price revisions based on a rule of law allows the exchange rate to strong and inflation low. A depreciating exchange rate destroys […]
Sri Lanka opposition backs stronger economic links with India
Jan 23, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party said it welcomed a move to start talks on a special economic partnership with India after an earlier deal was put on the backburner due to nationalism. “We welcome the news that Sri Lanka and India have decided to begin discussions to develop […]
Securities Watch
Jan 23, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s MillenniumIT, a unit of the London Stock Exchange said its software is being used for monitoring equity and derivative markets in Malaysia. The ‘Millennium Surveillance’ software integrated the equity and derivatives trading platforms to a unified system offering Bursa Malaysia offering a better insight into trading behavior and […]
Sri Lanka axed from AirAsia network
Jan 22, 2013 (LBO) – AirAsia, a low cost carrier said it was ending daily flights to Colombo from February 26, “as part of a commercial realignment.” Affected guest could move their flights to an earlier date without any extra charge, offered credit valued to three months or a full refund, the airline said. AirAsia […]
‘ Choice 2013 rankings
Jan 27, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been added to a list of 14 Asian countries where popular hotels are ranked annually by TripAdvisor.com, a travel review site, though no hotel in the island made it to the world’s best 25 hotels. Maldives had three hotels in the top 25, Baros Maldives, North Male […]
Sri Lanka needs price formula for petroleum, electricity: power minister
Jan 21, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs a cost based price formula for electricity and petroleum, power minister Patali Ranawaka has said.The rupee fell from 110 to 134 to the US dollar during the crisis. There was a steep energy price hike in February 2012 and the rupee has since strengthened to 126.50 to […]
OTT Revolution
Jan 21, 2013 (LBO) – Asian mobile operators are likely to see sharp falls in short message service (SMS) revenues as subscribers shift to services like WhatsApp which allow unlimited texting, an economic research consultancy has said.In December 2012, WhatsApp had processed 7 billion inbound messages and 11 billion outbound messages worldwide on December 31. […]
Pirate Poser
Jan 21, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s southern port of Galle has become a hub in the fight against Somali pirates who threaten international merchant shipping, a report in a new magazine said. “Sri Lanka is one of the few countries in the region to authorise the transit of armed guards through their waters for […]