Category: Industry
Circular Road
Aug 04, 2011 (LBO) – Metallurgical Corporation of China, a Chinese state-run building and engineering firm is to design and build a section of a highway around the capital Colombo that will connect three other expressways now under construction. The Colombo-Katunayake Expressway is to be completed by end of 2012 and the first two phases […]
Sri Lanka tourism training expanded
Aug 03, 2011 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (SLITHM) has increased its intake and is also franchising its courses to private institutions to cater to an expanding industry after the end of a 30-year war, an official said. The hotel school runs a four year hotel management program and […]
Port Forum
Aug 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to host an annual meeting of the international ports association alongside an air freight and shipping exhibition to promote the island as a logistics hub after the end of a war. “South Asia including Sri Lanka is expected to increase container throughput at a faster speed than […]
Sri Lanka knitwear firm lose Rs171mn
Aug 03, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hayleys MGT, a knitwear maker, said it lost 171 million rupees in the June 2011 quarter from a year erarlier, as revenues fell 9 percent to 1. 43 billion rupees. Gross profits fell to 111 million rupees in the quarter from 246 million rupees a year earlier and […]
Sri Lanka to revive handloom craft
Aug 03, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to revive its handloom textile industry in the war-torn north-east with a project modelled on the Rwandan Peace Collection where baskets woven by war-widows were sold at Macy’s department stores. “Local handloom producers need to develop and use natural dyes, such as spices, flowers and wood chips. […]
Sri Lanka Insurance to split firm before listing
Aug 03, 2011 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation will split its general and life businesses as required by the sector regulator, before a public listing, chief executive Mohan de Alwis said. The composite firm earned gross written premiums of 15. 2 billion rupees up from 13.54 billion rupees a year earlier. In 2010 […]
Mobile Banking
Aug 03, 2011 (LBO) – Dubai-based Etisalat’s Sri Lanka unit said it had inked a deal with with OpenArc, a Colombo-based information technology company to provide a mobile banking service. OpenArc Systems Management started in 1991 and deals in banking and finance, securities and stock market and enterprise resource management solutions. OpenArc chief Daya Hettiarachchi […]
Costly Call
NEW DELHI, August 3, 2011 (AFP) – India’s top mobile phone firm Bharti Airtel reported Wednesday a worse-than-expected 28 percent plunge in quarterly profit, hit by costs of its Africa acquisition and investments in 3G. Net profit slid to 12.15 billion rupees ($273.8 million) for the fiscal first quarter to June from a year earlier […]
Fuel Test
Aug 02, 2011 (LBO) – Petroleum products imported into Sri Lanka are unloaded and distributed only after they are tested and meet the required standards, a government statement said. “Petrol, diesel, and kerosene are unloaded from the tanker only after carrying out tests and verified by independent surveyors prior to distribution,” Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals […]
Sri Lanka consumer durables sales up
Aug 02, 2011 (LBO) – Singer Sri Lanka, a top consumer durables retailer said profits rose 79.9 percent in the June 2011 quarter from a year earlier as sales grew rapidly after the state cut taxes on electrical home appliances. The firm reported earnings per share of 2. 34 rupees for the quarter. Revenues in […]
Sri Lanka 400-room resort proposal by Four Seasons: minister
Aug 02, 2011 (LBO) – Canada based Four Seasons leisure group has proposed building a 400-room resort on an islet off Kalpitiya in Sri Lanka’s north western coast, deputy economic development minister Lakshman Abeywardene said. A team from Four Seasons had visited the site on July 27. The islands owned by the state are offered […]
Solid Franchise
Aug 02, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has confirmed Commercial Bank’s (CB) national long-term rating at ‘AA(lka)’ with a stable outlook and also confirmed its subordinated debentures at ‘AA-(lka)’. “CB’s ratings reflect its solid domestic franchise, sound profitability and its strong capital position,” a statement said. Fitch noted that the bank has arrested the […]