Category: Industry
Drill Deal
Nov 16, 2010 (LBO) – Cairn Lanka, which bought Sri Lanka’s first offshore oil exploration block has hired a Japanese ship to start drilling wells from July 2011, the Japan Drilling Company had said. The firm will use the ship ‘Chikyu’, owned by Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (“JAMSTEC”) to drill three wells […]
Night Banking
Nov 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon will start a branch that will stay open 24 hours to support government efforts to expand night economic activities in Colombo, an official said. The branch in Colombo’s Fort areas is expected to start on November 19, chairman Gamini Wickramasinghe said. The government legalized […]
Faster Pace
Nov 16, 2010 (LBO) – Chennai-based Indian Bank’s Sri Lanka branch will open new branches in former war torn areas and is looking to double its loan book over the next two and a half years, a top official said. Indian Bank has been in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo since 1932 and has mainly been […]
Cruise Call
Nov 16, 2010 (LBO) – A luxury passenger vessel, MV Le Diamant, operated by the CMA CGM shipping line, has begun calls at Sri Lankan ports following the end of the island’s 30-year ethnic war. Its second voyage is planned for May 2011. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority said the ship called at the eastern […]
Sri Lanka boxer fails second doping test
November 14, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan boxer Manju Wanniarachchi failed the second doping test for a banned steroid after winning gold at last month’s Commonwealth Games, the boxing governing body on the island said Sunday. The Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka said the “B” sample of 30-year-old Wanniarachchi’s urine tested positive for nandrolone, […]
Sri Lanka mulls ocean thermal energy option
Nov 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is considering OTEC, or ocean thermal energy conversion, in the eastern deep-water harbour of Trincomalee as part of a renewable energy drive, Minister of Power and Energy Champika Ranawaka said. Trincomalee, a natural harbour with a deep trench, has long been considered a potential site for OTEC but […]
Maid Abuse
November 13, 2010 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan housemaid has accused her Kuwaiti employer of hammering 14 nails into her body, in the second such incident in the past few months, a local doctor said Saturday. Non-governmental organisations report frequent cases of employer abuse of maids who work abroad. The woman, identified only as Lechchami, […]
Gas Action
Nov 12, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan liquid petroleum gas supplier Laugfs Gas, whose share issue to raise 2. 5 billion rupees was oversubscribed, plans to acquire a vessel and build an unloading terminal in a new port, an official said. Laugfs managing director Thilak de Silva said the firm wants to be able to […]
Sri Lanka apparel group chief says scale can change industry
Nov 12, 2010 (LBO) – Ashroff Omar, head of Sri Lanka’s Brandix apparel group had told a global conference that the creation of larger firms can drive research and development to make apparels give higher value to users, his company said. He had delivered the keynote address at an event marking 100 years of The […]
‘s Hemas group mulls hotel ventures
Nov 11, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas Holdings is considering expanding its hotels business with plans to build resorts in the south and east coasts as a post-war tourism boom gets under way, its chief executive Husein Esufally said. The group, which now operates four hotels, has a property in Tangalle on the south […]
Bank Numbers
Nov 11, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank said September 2010 quarter group net profit rose 31 percent to 808 million rupees from a year ago as non-interest income rose and interest expenses fell faster than costs. The performance of NDB’s investment banking cluster showed “significant improvement” over the corresponding period last year, […]
Systemic Value
Nov 11, 2010 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has assigned long- and short-term ratings of AAA and P1 to Sri Lanka’s state-owned People’s Bank (PB) with a stable outlook, a statement said. “PB’s investment portfolio is deemed to be of low risk as it is dominated by government securities, which constituted 99.34 percent of its […]