Category: Industry
‘s legendary doorman turns 90
Feb 13, 2010 (AFP) – In 70 years of greeting guests to Sri Lanka’s venerable Galle Face Hotel, doorman K. Chattu Kuttan has hobnobbed with everyone from royal heads of state to Bond girls and Soviet cosmonauts. In recent years, Kuttan has embraced his role as a living Galle Face institution. His distinctive neat white […]
Appointment
Feb 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said P D J Fernando, a senior official with 33 year’s of experience has been appointed deputy governor. He had been assistant governor for five years, and is a director of Lankaclear, Sri Lanka’s central checque clearing house and state-run Lanka Puthra Development Bank. The Central […]
Sri Lanka Keells Hotels December net soars
Feb 12, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s John Keells Hotels said net profit for the December quarter shot up 471 percent to 83 million rupees from a year ago as tourism recovered from the effects of recession and a war. Revenue rose seven percent to 1.6 billion rupees, the company, part of the John Keells […]
Sri Lanka tourist arrivals up 31-pct in January
Feb 12, 2010 (LBO) – The number of tourists visiting Sri Lanka rose sharply in January with a recovery in traditional Western European markets and more visitors from newer south Asian markets after the end of the war. Latest data from the government tourism authority showed arrivals rose 31.9 percent to 50,757 in January 2010, […]
Financial Links
Feb 12, 2010 JAFFNA (LBO) – A branch of HSBC which opened in Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsular will strengthen financial ties with the rest of the country and the world as the area recovers from a debilitating war, officials said. A 30-year war with Tamil Tiger separatists Sri Lanka’s north and east ended in […]
Sri Lanka tourist industry draws Russian interest
Feb 11, 2010 (LBO) – Russian investors are keen to invest in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, which is recovering after the end of a 30-year war, a senior official said. Export Development and International Trade Minister Gamini Peiris said Sri Lanka gets a large number of Russian tourists and that Russian companies were keen to […]
Retail Network
Feb 11, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s LB Finance said December quarter net profit rose 47 percent to 123 million rupees from a year ago and that it was expanding its branch network. The company said in a stock exchange filing that total income rose three percent to 1.05 billion rupees in the quarter. Interest […]
Weak Spots
Feb 11, 2010 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings said it has downgraded Sri Lanka’s Abans’ (ABL) National Long-term rating to ‘A-(lka)’ from ‘A(lka)’ with a stable outlook. The downgrade reflects weaknesses in its management information system (MIS), coupled with concerns regarding the quality and timeliness of information provided by the company to Fitch, the rating agency […]
Box Trends
Feb 11, 2010 (LBO) – Cargo volumes at a Colombo port private container terminal in which John Keells Holdings has a big stake rose sharply in January, albeit from a low base the year before as trade recovers from recession. South Asia Gateway Terminals handled 162,890 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent container Units) in January 2010, data […]
’ 30-pct: expert
Feb 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s loss-making state power utility, whose rates have been held below cost by successive governments for political reasons, is running a ˜tariff deficit’ of 30 percent, an expert said. Breakeven is not the end of the story but another stage in the process of a more comprehensive tariff reform […]
Sri Lanka rural businesswomen helped by Gap
Feb 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan women entrepreneurs in two rural districts are getting soft loans and technical help under a program support by an international apparel firm, the island’s largest business chamber said. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce through its ‘Youth Business Sri Lanka’ program offers a concessionary credit facility for business start-ups […]
Easy Financials
Feb 10, 2010 (LBO) – An accounting control software which only needs a web browser to access and operate an organization’s financial system has been developed jointly by UK-based Proteus Software and Kingslake of Sri Lanka. Kingslake Sri Lanka in partnership with IBM and a leading local telecommunications company would provide the software for a […]