Category: Industry
Sri Lanka Customs moves towards e-commerce
Mar 11, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan importers will get an opportunity to present documents electronically to the customs by the middle of the year, the head of the Customs Department said. Sarath Jayatilleke, director-general of Customs, said the department would shift to a more advanced electronic data interchange system by June or July. “We […]
‘s Dilshan signs for Sussex
HOVE, March 10, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan Twenty20 specialist Tillakaratne Dilshan will play for Sussex this season, the English county announced on Wednesday. Dilshan, whose trademark ‘Dilscoop’ shot has enthralled crowds around the world, was player of the tournament at last year’s World Twenty20 in England where his 317 runs at 52.38 helped power […]
Sri Lanka sends high level delegation to EU on GSP+
Mar 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is sending a high level delegation of senior government officials to save a preferential trade deal which is due end later in 2010 and broader relations with the European Union, a senior minister said. “On our part we are eager to engage with the international community,” international trade […]
Sri Lanka slashes terrorism insurance cover premium
Mar 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan authorities said they had decided to slash the premium on general insurance terrorism cover by 75 percent from April 1, 2010 as there were no terrorist activities in the country. Insurance Board of Sri Lanka chairman, Udaya Sri Kariyawasam, has been quoted as saying the reduced premium on […]
Lower Costs
Mar 10, 2010 (LBO) – Seylan Bank group has slashed its wage bill 30.7 percent to 2.5 billion rupees and is pushing to recover some its 29 percent bad loans as it is re-structured, senior officials in its state-backed management said. “We cut some unnecessary costs, stopped overtime, cut fuel allowances and increased staff retirement […]
Trade Flows
Mar 10, 2010 (LBO) – Cargo volumes at a Colombo port private container terminal in which John Keells Holdings has a big stake hit a monthly high in February as trade flows rebounded from global recession last year. South Asia Gateway Terminals handled 164,243 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent container Units) in February 2010, its highest volumes […]
Airside
Mar 10, 2010 (LBO) – DHL Express, a global logistics company, said it has opened an ‘airside gateway’ facility at Sri Lanka’s sole international airport north of the capital Colombo that will help speed up air cargo shipments. Romesh David, president of JKH’s transportation group, said the two companies had invested over 250 million rupees […]
Sri Lanka Amana Takaful starts general insurance in Maldives
March 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Amana Takaful Insurance said its Maldivian subsidiary Amana Takaful (Maldives) has got regulatory approval to do general insurance business in the archipelago. The company said in a stock exchange filing that Amana Takaful (Maldives) is a subsidiary of Amana Global which is a fully owned subsidiary of Amana […]
Support Rating
Mar 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank in which state ownership increased to 28 percent following a 1.1 billion rupee capital injection has retained its ‘BBB+(lka)’ with a ‘stable’ outlook, Fitch Ratings said. The bank was able to reverse the deposit run, and reported a net deposit inflow of over 5 billion rupees […]
Firm Pegs
Mar 08, 2010 (LBO) – Foreign exchange trading profits in Sri Lankan banks plummeted in the December 2009 quarter as a firmer currency peg with the US dollar reduced volatility emerging data showed. At state-run Bank of Ceylon group, the country’s largest commercial bank by assets, forex profits had fallen 96 percent to just 90 […]
Weak Finances
Mar 08, 2010 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka said it removed People’s Merchant Bank’s National Long-term rating from Rating Watch Negative and downgraded the rating to ‘BB+(lka)’ from ‘BBB-(lka)’. The rating agency said in a statement it also assigned PMB a Negative Outlook. “The rating actions reflect PMB’s weakened financial profile in terms of its […]
Cash Management
Mar 08, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s investment promotion agency said it has approved an investment by a unit of Lankaclear, the national clearing house, to provide cash management services to banks in rural north-central Anuradhapura. The Board of Investment said in a statement Lankaclear Cash Management, a joint venture by Lankaclear and Transnational Group, […]