Category: Industry
Express Fitness
Feb 02, 2012 (LBO) – A large number of vehicles breaking down on Sri Lanka’s first expressway may require motorists to get roadworthiness certificates to use the road, as traffic picked up steadily, an official said. From about 4,000 vehicles a day in December, usage has now increased to 7,200 by end January. Sri Lanka’s […]
Trade Links
Feb 02, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s southern expressway linking the capital Colombo with the south is to be extended to link the eastern port town of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Priyath Wickrama said. The move is part of a plan to improve the transport infrastructure to give manufacturers fast connectivity, he told […]
SriLankan Airlines hires more cadet pilots
Feb 01, 2012 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines’ latest batch of cadet pilots were awarded their ‘wings’ when they passed out as Junior First Officers recently at the international airport in Katunayake. “With plans for expanding the fleet size to 30 aircraft by 2015, more recruitment will be initiated to meet growing demand with SriLankan gearing […]
Sri Lanka targets Chinese tourists
Feb 01, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is targeting 25,000 tourists from China in 2012 with expectations that arrivals will rise to 300,000 in 2016 making it the second largest source of foreign tourists to the country, an official said. When he was 11 year old he had been captured by the imperial Chinese Navy, […]
Sri Lanka Continental Hotel Dec net up 22-pct
Feb 01, 2012 (LBO) – A boom in tourist arrivals after the end of a war has helped Sri Lanka’s Continental Hotel to increase net profit by 22 percent in the December 2011 quarter, the start of the peak tourism season. The hotel, bought by the Hayleys conglomerate last year, said net profit in the […]
Merger Intention
Feb 01, 2012 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has maintained Merchant Credit of Sri Lanka’s (MCSL) ‘BBB(lka)’ national long-term rating on rating watch evolving (RWE), a statement said. MCSL was placed on RWE in May 2011 after Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka’s announcement it got Central Bank approval for a specialised banking license to MBSL […]
Scanned Access
Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Ports Authority plans to install bar code readers at Colombo port to speed up the movement of vehicles moving containers, a senior official said. Truckers have complained of lengthy waiting times of sometimes 6-8 hours to get in or out of the port. The existing gate pass system […]
Lease Business
Jan 30, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Citizens Development Business Finance Plc, a registered leasing firm, said profits fell 25 percent in the December 2011 quarter to 157 million rupees from a year earlier, mainly due to lower non-fund based income. Net assets rose from 1.0 billion rupees to 2.06 billion rupees from March to […]
Tele Trend
Jan 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s fixed wireless users shrank 1.4 percent to 2.63 million in the third quarter of 2011, from a year earlier, but internet users, which include mobile broad bank rose 100 percent, official data shows. . Fixed wireline grew 4.6 percent to 929,851. Sri Lanka Telecom, the island’s only wireline […]
‘s ITC for hotel: report
Jan 29, 2012 (LBO) – India’s ITC group has paid a 50 percent advance payment for beachfront land in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo where it plans to build a luxury hotel, a media report said. The Sunday Times newspaper quoted economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa as saying that 73.5 million US dollars or 50 percent […]
Side Effects
Jan 28, 2012 (LBO) – Liquid assets in Sri Lankan banks are falling and loan to deposit ratios are deteriorating, with some banks reaching 100 percent, Fitch Ratings Lanka said as authorities continued to defend a dollar peg creating a liquidity crunch. Fitch said in an report on the outlook on Sri Lankan banks that […]
Sri Lanka Vallibel Power begins hydro electricity supply
Jan 27, 2012 (LBO) – Vallibel Power Erathna, a Sri Lankan mini-hydro power firm, said it has begun commercial operations at a new power plant. A stock exchange filing said the 4. 65 mega watt ‘Kiriwaneliya’ mini hydro power project of its subsidiary Country Energy has begun commercial operations. Country Energy, which has approvals for […]