Category: Industry
Sri Lanka Aviva unit makes Rs80mn loss in March
May 07, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aviva NDB Insurance made an 80 million rupee loss in March 2010 quarter from a year ago, as wage and sales costs rose and it faced higher claims, accounts filed at the stock exchange showed. Aviva NDB Insurance made 98.3 million rupee profit during March quarter last year. […]
Multilingual
SAN FRANCISCO, May 7, 2010 (AFP) – Internet addresses written in Arabic are making history as the first online domains in non-Latin characters, with Chinese and Thai expected to follow close behind. “For the first time in the history of the Internet, non-Latin characters are being used for top-level domains,” the Internet Corporation for Assigned […]
Mobile Move
May 07, 2010 (LBO) – Plans by Sri Lanka’s telecommunications regulator to introduce mobile phone number portability, allowing subscribers to switch networks while using the same number, could threaten industry profitability, Fitch Ratings said. Implementation of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) could increase subscriber acquisition and retention costs within the industry, it said in a statement. […]
Sri Lanka Seylan Bank profits up in March quarter
May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank group has reported profits of 195.5 million rupees in the March 2010 quarter from break-even levels a year earlier with wider interest margins boosting the bottom line. Group interest income fell 34.6 percent to 4,052 million rupees, but interest expenses fell at a faster 54. 6 […]
Selling Down
May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s listed Sampath Bank has sold down more of its stake in a Bangladesh finance firm, the bank said in a series of disclosures in the Dhaka stock exchange. On April 19 Sampath Bank as a corporate sponsor of the LankaBangla Finance said it had sold a total of […]
Wider Margins
May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank group has reported profits of 195.5 million rupees in the March 2010 quarter from break-even levels a year earlier with wider interest margins boosting the bottom line. Group interest income fell 34.6 percent to 4,052 million rupees, but interest expenses fell at a faster 54.6 percent […]
Finance Listing
May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sinhaputhra Finance, a regulated non-bank financial firm based in Sri Lanka’s hill country city of Kandy, has been given the nod for a listing on its second board, the Colombo Stock Exchange said. The firm will list 6,295,893 shares, the CSE statement said without elaborating. The firm will be listed […]
Sri Lanka to send team for talks on GSP trade deal
May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to dispatch a team of officials to Brussels later this month to try to extend a key European Union trade deal that is to be withdrawn on human rights concerns, an official said. Foreign Minister Gamini Peiris told parliament the team for talks on May 20-21 will […]
Future Challenge
May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Students of the science faculty of Sri Lanka’s Colombo University and the Rotaract Club have teamed up to bring students closer to the island’s corporate sector. The organizers say cubicles with lighting and fans and refreshment will be provided for company representative to interview undergraduates. Waiting rooms will have projectors […]
Regional Visit
May 05, 2010 (LBO) – HSBC’s Asia Pacific head of corporate real estate, Richley Featherstone is visiting Colombo to meet senior management and the head of the bank’s operations in Sri Lanka and Maldives. The corporate real estate department acts as the custodian of HSBC premises providing the right property at the right time to […]
Sri Lanka Brandix opens apparel export hub in India
May 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan apparel exporter Brandix has opened a 1,000-acre ‘Apparel Park’ in India to serve as a hub for manufacturers and suppliers in the south Asian region, a statement said. The facility near the eastern Indian port city of Vishakhapatnam when fully occupied will accommodate up to 20 apparel manufacturing […]
Fresh Brew
May 04, 2010 (LBO) – Unilever Sri Lanka (USL) has launched a new brand of tea in the island aiming to increase the multinational’s market share of branded teas that carry higher margins, officials said. The new brand, Brooke Bond Ceylonta, is expected to increase local market share for Unilever branded teas by 1.0 to […]