Category: Industry
Protest
Nov 04, 2009 (LBO) – A group of graduates were water cannoned at tear gassed by police when they tried to march up to office of Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa Wednesday as part of a protest demanding state jobs.Sri Lanka’s graduates educated at tax payer expense free in state universities have spread a successful […]
Higher Margins
Nov 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank has reported group net profits up 73 percent to 823 million rupees for the September 2009 quarter, from a year earlier as higher incomes from government securities boosted margins.Total group revenues rose 9.5 percent to 3.6 billion rupees, interim accounts filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange […]
Sea Perils
SYDNEY, November 4, 2009 (AFP) – Australia called off an air and sea search for survivors on Wednesday after a boat carrying unidentified Sri Lankans sank in remote seas far off its northwest, killing 12.Home Minister Brendan O’Connor said there was no hope of finding anyone else alive after the boat carrying 39 went down […]
Building Skills
Nov 03, 2009 (LBO) – Colombo Dockyard, a Sri Lankan shipbuilder, said it was eying more work for its heavy engineering division in the island as well as the south Asian region. The company said in a statement its subsidiary, Dockyard General Engineering Services (DGES), had changed its logo as it seeks to emerge as […]
Top Brands
Nov 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Munchee biscuit brand won top place as brand of the year, while Panadol, a paracetamol product, bagged the gold for the international brand at the eighth annual Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) brand awards. Unlike awards which recognizes creativity, SLIM brand award organizers say they judge the […]
Sri Lanka Continental for sale: report
Nov 01, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hotel Ceylon Continental controlled by business magnate Nahil Wijesuriya is up for sale and the deal may be closed within two months, a media report said. Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities have legal powers to dictate pricing of hotels. “I am aggressively seeking to sell the property and hope […]
Fiscal Rates
Oct 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka finance ministry would issue a circular directing state banks to cut lending rates and there was a possibility of private banks being also directed to cut lending rates through the island’s monetary authority, a government minister said.Sri Lanka’s powerful president Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered state bank to cut lending […]
Rate Impact
Oct 29, 2009 (LBO) – State banks were scrambling to give effect to an order to cut lending rates, but their balance sheets of state banks are likely to be hurt despite depositors taking some of the cost, officials said. Peoples’ Bank has a high proportion of pawning or gold backed loans. Savings depositors in […]
Rate Cut
Oct 29, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run People’s Bank said it was cutting lending rates for a range of sectors following a presidential directive to give loans at rates between 8.0 to 12.0 percent. The bank said in a statement Wednesday that it will cut lending rates with “immediate effect” following President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s […]
Debt Prowess
Oct 28, 2009 (LBO) – HSBC, an international bank, which said it had helped raise two billion dollars for Sri Lankan infrastructure has been named the best international debt house in Asia in awards given by Euromoney, a financial magazine.The bank said so far this year date, the HSBC Group has done 22 deals in […]
Settlement
Oct 28, 2009 (LBO) – Commercial Bank of Ceylon said it had been appointed as the second bank to settle payments for securities trades in the Colombo Stock Exchange, following a decision by the bourse to expand the number of banks offering the service.The stock exchange has an automated trading and a central depository system […]
Buy Out
Oct 27, 2009 (LBO) – Ceylinco Land Exchange, a real estate firm in Sri Lanka’s troubled Ceylinco group, is striking out under a new name, while employees are negotiating to buy out the firm, officials said.The firm is now operating under the name of People’s Realty Limited. “The management is negotiating with relevant companies [to […]