Category: Industry
Price Pressure
Feb 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom group said it suffered a loss in the December quarter but ended the year with a net profit of 785 million rupees, down 89 percent from a year ago. Group sales in the 2009 financial year rose two percent to 48 billion rupees from the previous year, […]
Bank Return
Feb 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank (HNB) said group net profits for the 2009 financial year rose 58 percent to 4.5 billion rupees with gains from investments in government securities while the loan book shrank. The bank said in a stock exchange filing that group December quarter profits shot up 156 […]
Commercial Profits
Feb 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank said group December quarter profits rose 8.3 percent to 1,207 million rupees while full year profits were up 1.7 percent to 4,191 million rupees. Basic earnings per share for the quarter were reported at 4.84 rupees and the full year at 16.80 rupees. In the December […]
Banking Fortunes
Feb 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nation Trust Bank (NTB) group December quarter profits rose 5.0 percent to 181.1 million rupees from a year ago, and full year profits were up 16 percent 686.1 million rupees. For the year non-interest income was up 8.0 percent to 1.9 billion rupees, and non interest expenses were […]
Branch Expansion
Feb 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HSBC unit has opened a new branch in the capital Colombo pushing the total up to 15, within weeks of starting a new branch in the northern Jaffna peninsular. The new branch in Maitland Crescent in the upmarket Cinnamon Gardens or Colombo 7 area also has a ‘premier […]
Arabian Call
Feb 25, 2010 (LBO) – Etisalat’s new Sri Lankan mobile subsidiary said it plans to expand coverage to cover the entire island, offer high speed links and use its international group network to give preferential rates to win customers. “We’re here to stay in Sri Lanka,” Etisalat group chief marketing officer Essa Al Haddad told […]
Indian rail budget promises high-speed trains
NEW DELHI, February 24, 2010 (AFP) – India’s rail minister announced Wednesday plans for high-speed trains for Asia’s largest rail network as she kept fares unchanged — underscoring the government’s focus on “inclusive growth”. Indian Railways boasts a network of 109,000 kilometers (67,730 miles) that transports some 18.5 million people daily on 14,000 passenger and […]
Rating Risk
Feb 24, 2010 (LBO) – A fresh risk evaluation of Sri Lanka by London insurers, considered critical in attracting investors after the end of its ethnic war, has been delayed by elections, official involved in the matter said. London underwriters have reduced the risk rating after the 30-year ethnic war ended in May 2009, with […]
Australia tightens rules on colleges for foreigners
SYDNEY, February 23, 2010 (AFP) – Australian colleges catering to foreign students will face more rigorous regulation by year’s end as the government weeds out unscrupulous operators, the education minister said Tuesday. Under a bill passed Monday, all colleges and schools providing courses to international students will have to re-register with the government under strengthened […]
Design Economy
Feb 23, 2010 (LBO) – A wooden chair becomes a news paper holder when it is turned over once. When it is turned again, it becomes a small table. A small bench table can be lengthened into one five metres long, allowing more people to sit. A ten metre high mini library has a work […]
Shunned Jobs
SEOUL, February 23, 2010 (AFP) – Migrants who tackle jobs shunned by most South Koreans urged the government on Tuesday to ease regulations complicating their lives and improve education to discourage discrimination. “They come for the 3D — dirty, dangerous and difficult — jobs, which are necessary here,” Aung Tin Htun, a Myanmar manager of […]
Regional Finance
Feb 23, 2010 (LBO) – An affiliate of Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank in Bangladesh is planning to list its stock brokering firm in the country’s booming stock market, a media report said, though there were fears of a correction. Bangladesh’s stocks have been going through a bull run prompting fears of a bubble. On Monday […]