Sri Lanka hotel in talks with Hilton to reduce management fee

Oct 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hotel Developers, is negotiating with Hilton International USA which runs the property to reduce management fees, a stock exchange filing said. The management is also in talks on with the government to restructure the firm and “overcome the debt burden and interest commitment,” it said. It said the […]

Bank Net

Oct 27, 2011 (LBO) – Net profits of Sri Lanka’s PABC Bank for the September 2011 quarter rose 62 percent to 208. 7 million rupees from a year earlier, helped by stronger net interest income and a lower tax rate, interim accounts showed. The bank reported earnings of 71 cents for the quarter and 2.08 […]

Boeing Dreamliner makes first commercial flight

HONG KONG, October 26, 2011 (AFP) – Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner made its first commercial flight on Wednesday, giving a handful of deep-pocketed passengers the chance to fly into history on what is touted as an aviation breakthrough. With an average list price of 2 million, the plane is the firm’s first new design in […]

SriLankan Airlines gets new Airbus aircraft

Oct 26, 2011 (LBO) – A brand new Airbus 320 was added to the expanding fleet of Sri Lanka’s national carrier SriLankan Airlines Wednesday, a statement said. The new A320 has a seating configuration of 20 Business Class and 120 Economy Class and is equipped with the latest AVOD (Audio Video- On Demand) inflight entertainment […]

” tourism brand

Oct 26, 2011 (LBO) – Maldives has launched a new slogan ‘Always Natural’ and a thumbprint-styled logo highlighting the Indian Ocean tourist paradise’s natural assets. The logo has been designed to express the natural elements of the country formed in a thumb print incorporating various species of fish, dolphins and birds. “The previous slogan was […]

Finance Company

Oct 26, 2011 (LBO) – Nation Lanka Plc, a listed company said Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has given approval for it to be registered as licensed finance company subject to several conditions. But interest rates are now moving up, amid defence of a dollar peg by the monetary authority. The firm had to put up […]

Credit Profile

Oct 26, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has confirmed Pan Asia Banking Corporation’s (PABC) national long-term rating at ‘BBB(lka)’ with a stable outlook. PABC is a licensed commercial bank (LCB), 41% owned by a high net-worth businessman Mr. K.D.D. Perera and related parties. It accounted for 1.1% of LCB sector assets at end-2010 (2009: […]

Vehicle Trend

Oct 26, 2011 (LBO) – New vehicles registered in Sri Lanka rose 31 percent to 45,279 in August 2011 from a year earlier, though lower than a peak of 48,157 seen in June, official data showed. Car imports rose 62 percent to 5,055 in August, three wheeler vehicles widely used as taxis rose 30.4 percent […]

Sri Lanka cancels land sale to China firm

Oct 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has cancelled the sale without tender of prime land in the capital to a Chinese defence contractor to build a hotel and is renegotiating the deal with alternate land being offered. Minister of economic development Basil Rajapaksa said the government had changed its policy and decided not to […]

Sri Lanka in talks with Sheraton, Raffles, DoubleTree

Oct 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is holding talks with top international hotel chains to invest in the island after the end of its 30-year year civil war, a senior minister said. Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka rose sharply with the end of the ethnic war in May 2009. Minister of economic development Basil […]

Finance Channel

Oct 25, 2011 (LBO) – HSBC in Sri Lanka, which has channelled about two billion dollars to infrastructure building in the island, sees more potential in the telecom sector, an official said. The mobile telecom sector is moving from the mainly narrow band GSM technology to broadband third generation (3G), Nick A Nicolaou, chief executive […]

Provisional Help

Oct 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank’s profits in the September 2011 quarter rose 26. 8 percent to 396 million rupees from a year earlier, helped by lower loan loss provisions, interim accounts showed. The group reported earnings of 5. 63 rupees for the quarter. Nine month earnings were 1.63 rupees due mainly […]

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