Category: Industry
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 […]
Bus Bailout
Jan 20, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Transport Board, a loss-making state bus utility has been given a 2.8 billion rupee bailout from tax payer money, the state information office said.In 2011 the SLTB had being given a 3.939 billion rupee subsidy on top of a 4.6 billion rupee cash handout the year earlier, according […]
Finance Rating
Jan 19, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Vallibel Finance Ltd has been rated ‘BB+’ with a stable outlook by RAM Ratings Lanka. “Vallibel’s ratings are moderated by the increasing trend in new non-performing loans (NPLs) in recent times, coupled with its unseasoned loan portfolio, given aggressive loan Growth,” RAM Ratings Lanka said. “The ratings are, […]
Latin Conquest
Jan 18, 2013 (LBO) – MilleniumIT, a Sri Lanka based unit of the London Stock Exchange group has struck a deal to provide trading and order routing technology to Peru’s Lima Stock Exchange. Peru will get Millennium Exchange softer and Millennium SOR smart order routing technology. “We are very conscious of the relevance of technology […]
Land Routes
Jan 18, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will build 37 major bridges on national roads with a loan from the Japan and major roads in Colombo will be re-built with another credit, information minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said.A bridge on the Nawala-Nugegoda road will also be reconstructed with the funds. Sri Lanka will borrow 12.38 billion […]
Car Trends
Jan 18, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new vehicle registrations fell 44.8 percent to 25,308 in December 2012, with new registrations of small Maruti and Suzuki cars down 64 percent and BMW cars up 161 percent, data compiled by JB Securities equities research shows.BMWs are believed to be imported on tax-slashed permits given to state […]
‘s The Kingsbury seeks shareholder nod to borrow more
Jan 17, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hotel Services (Ceylon) Plc, has sought shareholder approval to increase borrowings after the cost of renovating its ‘The Kingsbury’ branded property escalated.Following design changes which required an additional 600 million rupees the cost escalated to 2.4 billion rupees. The renovation had also involved replacing its older mechanical and […]
Bus Purchase
Jan 17, 2013 (LBO) – Lanka Ashok Leyland, unit of Ashok Leyland has won a 700 million rupee contract to supply 200 buses to Sri Lanka’s state transport utility. Sri Lanka’s transport ministry will buy 200 buses from Lanka Ashok Leyland Plc, information minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said. The cabinet of ministers had approved a proposal […]