Category: Industry
Online Trading
Mar 06, 2012 (LBO) – IronOne Technologies, a Sri Lanka based firm said its online trading system used at 15 out of 22 brokers has been connected to an upgrade to the Colombo Stock Exchange’s new automated trading system. It also makes software for banking, insurance, telecom sectors which are also available on on Apple […]
Bank Rating
Mar 06, 2012 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has confirmed an ‘AAA(lka)’ national rating with a stable outlook for HSBC’s branch in Sri Lanka following an outlook downgrade of the main bank. Sri Lanka’s HSBC is a branch and is part of the same legal entity making up HongKong & Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, which has […]
Capital Boost
Mar 06, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s listed Sampath Bank is planning to issue subordinated debt to boost its regulatory capital by at least 5. 0 billion rupees during the second quarter of 2012, chief executive Aravinda Perera said. At standalone bank level Sampath made profits of 3. 81 billion rupees in 2011 up 15.6 […]
Merchant Rating
Mar 06, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Merchant Plc’s (PMP) ‘BB+(lka)’ national rating has been confirmed by Fitch Ratings with a stable outlook. The rating reflected the support that would be forthcoming if required from its main shareholder stat-run People’s Bank (PB) which has been rated ‘AA(lka)’ with a stable outlook, Fitch said. “Fitch’s […]
Price Signals
Mar 05, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Gampaha district in the Western province bordering the capital Colombo was the area with the highest kerosene consumption with most of it going to factories, the finance ministry said. Though there was a widespread belief that kerosene is consumed by poor households with no electricity including houses of […]
Southern Tech
Mar 05, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is building an information technology park in Suriyawewa in Hambantota in the island’s south, which is expected to be fully operational by 2016-2017, an official said. Reshan Devapura, head of Sri Lanka’s state ICT Agency said the IT park is being built on a 200 acre site. The […]
Burning Loss
Mar 03, 2012 (LBO) – Giving subsidized furnace oil to a state-run power utility was the main main source of losses at a petroleum utility, while the private firms also made higher profits due to cheap power, the finance ministry said. The finance ministry said state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation lost 90 billion rupees in 2011 […]
Sri Lanka airport expansion financed by Japan
Mar 03, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main international airport has secured financing of 28.9 billion yen financing (330 million US dollars) to expand and modernize facilities as tourist arrivals continue to expand. In 2011 tourist arrivals rose 30 percent. The state information office said the cabinet of ministers had given the nod to get […]
Sri Lanka gets AirAsia flight to Bangkok
Mar 02, 2012 (LBO) – Low-cost carrier AirAsia’s Thai unit has begun direct flights connecting Bangkok with the Sri Lankan capital Colombo aiming to attract tourists and pilgrims in both countries whose main religion is Buddhism. Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive of Thai AirAsia, said they expect a load factor of around 75-80 percent in the […]
Higher Rates
Mar 02, 2012 (LBO) – Capital Alliance Finance Plc, a registered finance company in Sri Lanka said it is offering 14.5 percent for six month fixed deposits targeting short term investors amid a general rise in interest rates. “Many of the fixed deposit schemes available today are medium to long term investor friendly whilst short […]
Sri Lanka interest rate increases seen hitting insurance growth
Mar 02, 2012 (LBO) – The rise in interest rates in Sri Lanka, which began recently, could reduce the growth of the insurance market as it reduces the affordability of insurance products, RAM Ratings Lanka said. However, the rating agency said that despite the premium growth, most general insurers’ underwriting performance continued to be weak, […]
‘s central bank says S&P downgrade unwarranted
Feb 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank says an outlook and rating by Standard & Poor’s in the wake of balance of payments pressure is unwarranted because corrective steps have been taken by the government. S&P on Wednesday cut the outlook on Sri Lanka’s ‘B+’ foreign currency rating to ‘stable’ from ‘positive’ and […]