Category: Industry
’s Dambulla area, not affecting tourists
May 01, 2012 (LBO) – Foreign visitors continue to tour Sri Lanka’s central regions, despite ongoing religious tensions where Buddhist monks have demanded a 60-year-old mosque be relocated, a tourism industry lobby said. Hakeem alleged that “extremist forces” were trying to stir trouble, to fan religious tensions across the island that is emerging after the […]
Location Lure
May 01, 2012 (LBO) – China Merchants Holdings International which is building a deep-water container terminal in Colombo port is interested in investing in other Sri Lankan ports as well, an official said. Sri Lanka’s advantages make it a strong contender to be developed as a modern port with the right investment and support of […]
Sri Lanka state land sale to ITC to be done May 10: Treasury secy
April 30, 2012 (LBO) – A 75 million US dollar transfer of state beachfront land to India’s ITC is to be wrapped up by May 10, setting the stage for a Sheraton branded hotel in Colombo, Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera said. The land was earlier to be sold to China’s CATIC on a freehold […]
Comfort Zone
April 30, 2012 (LBO) — Fitch Ratings Lanka on Monday affirmed HNB Assurance PLC’s national insurer financial strength rating and national long-term rating at ‘A(lka)’. The Outlook is Stable. A unit of the privately-held Hatton National Bank (HNB), HNB Assurance’s ratings reflects its capitalisation in terms of regulatory solvency and Fitch’s risk-based capital computations. The […]
Sea Drill
May 30, 2012 (LBO) – A joint coastguard exercise on anti-piracy, search and rescue and pollution control involving ships from India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives had been held in seas of the Indian Ocean archipelago. The High Commission (embassy) of India in Colombo said in a statement that six ships and one aircraft had […]
Sri Lanka Cricket announces Pakistan tour dates
April 29, 2012 (LBO) – Pakistan are due to play three Tests, five one-days and two Twenty20 internationals when they tour Sri Lanka between May 29 and July 13, Sri Lanka Cricket said Sunday. Dave Whatmore’s men are due to play the first of two Twenty20s in the southern town of Hambantota on June 1. […]
Finance Stake
Apr 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run National Savings Bank has bought a 13 percent stake in The Finance Company, a troubled firm that is being bailed out by regulators, at a steep premium above market price. NSB has bought 7.863 million shares of The Finance at 49. 74 rupees in an off-market deal […]
Debut Bond
Apr 27, 2012 (LBO) – A successful 500 million US dollar bond sale by state-run Bank of Ceylon showed investor confidence and broadened access to international capital, chairman Gamini Wickramasinghe said. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi and HSBC managed the bond. It was rated ‘B1’ by Moody’s and ‘BB-‘ by Fitch. The bond issuance […]
Good Start
April 27, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank March 2012 quarter net profit rose 69.3 percent from a year earlier to 644,047 million rupees, helped by less provisioning, accounts showed Friday. Group income grew 13.7 percent to 4.5 billion rupees for the March quarter over the corresponding period 2011. Net interest income grew at […]
Port Draw
Apr 27, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s ports will be positioned as logistics hubs to help attract foreign investors for export-oriented industries to generate the cargo volumes needed to continue to lure big shipping lines, an official said. Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Priyath Wickrama said ports will provide warehousing and other services to offer […]
Skyline Address
April 26, 2012 (LBO) – Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC, owners of Sri Lanka’s iconic Twin Tower complex, has seen demand for its property grow, on the back of post-war economic sentiment, but warned a weak rupee was eroding earnings. The Singaporean company, saw post-tax profits grow 32.0 percent to 584 million rupees for the financial […]
Wrapped Up
Apr 27, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon has sold a 500 million dollar 5-year bond to yield 6. 875 percent a year with the investors oversubscribing the issue 7.7 times, sources familiar with the matter said. Books were initially opened with a price guidance of 7. 1 percent but the price […]