Category: Industry
Sri Lanka Allianz unit profit down
Sept 08, 2010 (LBO) – Allianz Lanka, the local unit of Allianz SE, said net profit fell 23 percent to 44.8 million rupees in the July 2010 quarter from a year ago and that it was opening more branches. Its accounts showed net claims rose to 90 million rupees in the period from 56 million […]
Air fares up as Asian travel rebounds from recession
SINGAPORE, September 8, 2010 (AFP) – Asia-Pacific airlines are raising ticket prices as travellers return in their droves after holding back on their travel plans last year because of the global recession. A strong economic rebound, led by China, has resulted in carriers filling more seats during the summer holidays and demand should remain robust […]
‘s Spice Jet from Oct
Sept 08, 2010 (LBO) – India’s Spice Jet, the country’s second largest budget carrier, will start flying to Sri Lanka daily from Chennai from October 09, after the airline received official nod to start international services. The airline is selling online a Colombo – Chennai ticket at 5,098 rupees and Chennai – Colombo ticket at […]
Rate Trends
Sept 08, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank does not see a need to cut rates next week, following two rates cuts over two months, a media report has suggested. In 2009 private credit shrank as the government ran a deficit of around 10 percent of gross domestic product. The government has promised to […]
Shock Absorber
Sept 07, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will increase minimum capital requirements of banks to increase their resilience to shocks and also require unlisted private banks to list on the Colombo bourse, the Central Bank said. This was to meet “the need for enhancing the ability of banks to raise additional capital in a more […]
Easier Access
Sept 07, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Customs department has doubled the number of gates at Colombo port to four to ease congestion and speed up the flow of cargo, a Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) official said. Truckers have had to wait for lengthy periods to move in and out of the port because […]
Fast Track
Sept 06, 2010 (LBO) – India’s Mphasis said its start up outsourcing unit in Sri Lanka may grow faster than planned as it signs up multinational firms to outsource services starting next month. The firm opened a 250-seat facility in Colombo Monday and said it would start shifting work of a ‘multinational’ firm within four […]
Sri Lanka resort operators in Maldives seen facing more competition
Sept 06, 2010 (LBO) – Tourists arrivals to the Maldives, where two Sri Lankan conglomerates own or operate resorts, are recovering from recession but construction of more hotels is seen hitting room rates. China is the second highest tourism market to the archipelago so far this year with a 14.2 percent market share preceded only […]
Cargo Flows
Sept 06, 2010 (LBO) – Container volumes at South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT), an associate of Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings, fell in August, the first monthly fall against a year ago since October 2009. SAGT’s cargo volumes were down 2. 3 percent to 159,334 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units or containers) in August 2010 […]
Sri Lanka power expert comments on solar economics
Sept 06, 2010 (LBO) – Tilak Siyambalapitiya, an expert of power has responded to a recent Lanka Business Online story on a solar power project by a financial sector firm, explaining the economics of solar power. The response is reproduced below. I write with reference to your recent news item on Solar Supplement. I am […]
Asia leads world tourism recovery in 2010: UN
MADRID, September 3, 2010 (AFP) – World tourism rebounded strongly this year from the global financial crisis, led by Asia and the Middle East, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said Friday. But the Madrid-based body also urged caution, noting that some major developed nations have not yet fully emerged from the economic doldrums. […]
Capacity Crunch
Sept 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Colombo port is nearing its maximum capacity ahead of forecasts owing to a rapid growth in cargo volumes, the head of the state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority said. Container volumes through Colombo are growing at almost 24 percent now compared with 2009, Wickrama said. The number of containers […]