Film Awards

June 3, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s cricket captain Thursday applauded the “courage” of stars attending the annual Bollywood film awards being held this year in Sri Lanka despite a boycott call by the Tamil cinema industry. Kumar Sangakkara said the Bollywood celebrities who have already arrived in Colombo for Saturday’s glitzy Indian International Film […]

Credit Enhancement

NEW YORK, June 3, 2010 (AFP) – Credit rating agencies came under fire for their role in the global financial crisis Wednesday, as US investigators grilled senior industry figures, including mega-investor Warren Buffett. Answering allegations that rating firms helped propel the sale of risky investments that poisoned the global financial system, senior officials from Moody’s […]

Sri Lanka power utility to lose Rs40bn in 2010

June 02, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run power utility Ceylon Electricity Board is expected to lose 40 billion rupees (350 million US dollars) in 2010 and short term debt is mounting but there are plans to turn the utility around, officials said. The CEB is expected to earn 120 billion rupees as revenue in […]

Retail Focus

June 02, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Richard Pieris and Company said it plans to expand its network of ‘Arpico’ shopping malls in its retail business which is considered the group’s main engine of growth. Chairman and chief executive Sena Yaddehige said the retail sector has been one of the most “growth-oriented” arms of the […]

Bank Sale

June 02, 2010 (LBO) – A 9.8 percent slice of Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon was sold by 30 percent shareholder DFCC Bank to a foreign buyer for 5.8 billion rupees, brokers said. The 9.988 percent stake in Commercial Bank falls short of the 10 percent regulatory limit on bank shareholding set by the […]

Cash Flow

June 02, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s The Finance Company (TFC) cash flows have turned positive after a run on deposits in early 2009 and its real estate business has returned to profitability on higher sales, a senior official “The company has returned to normal and has a positive cash flow now,” Kamal Yatawara, chief […]

Sri Lanka to hire cruise liner for World Cup fans

June 1, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to hire a cruise liner to accommodate cricket World Cup fans and spectators at the newly built stadium in the island’s south, an official said on Tuesday. The six-million dollar stadium in Hambantota, President Mahinda Rajapakse’s hometown, lacks hotels to accommodate thousands of fans expected to watch […]

Sri Lanka to test first coal power plant by Sept: minister

June 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will start testing its first 300 MegaWatt coal power plant in September with plans to connect it to the national distribution grid by January 2011, power minister Patali Ranawaka said. Coal is expected to reduce the costs of power generation. The CEB is expecting to lose about 40 […]

Hot Seats

June 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan public will get 100 seats but VIPs will get 400 seats at a India film awards venue in the island’s capital, officials said, though hundreds of millions of rupees of public money is being spent, including to spruce up the venue. The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards […]

Tele Share

June 01, 2010 (LBO) – Korean electronics maker Samsung said it was eyeing a 30 percent share in Sri Lanka’s growing flat panel television market with an intensified marketing drive as the overall domestic market is also set for higher growth. Samsung West Asia chief JungSoo Shin said his firm had market leadership status for […]

Logistics Link

May 31, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) is to function under the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), the island’s oldest business chamber, as it launched a corporate membership drive, a statement said. The CILT has entered into an agreement with the CCC which enables the institution to function […]

Sharma ton seals India win 0ver Sri Lanka

BULAWAYO, May 30, 2010 (AFP) – A chilly day in Africa but not for Indian cricketers as batsman Rohit Sharma hit his second century in successive matches to secure a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in a tri-nation series. Sharma’s first century was against Zimbabwe on Friday in a match which the home side won […]

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