Category: Industry
Sri Lanka tourist arrivals up 7.0-pct in Oct
Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s October tourist arrivals grew 7.0 percent to 37,575 from a year earlier, but were slightly lower than the September figure of 37,983, data from the tourist promotion office showed. Meanwhile the state has also mandated minimum prices for Colombo’s five star rated hotels, and at least one hotel […]
Bank Number
Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank (HNB) said September quarter group profit rose 17 percent to 945 million rupees with interest margins improving slightly although asset quality deteriorated.HNB’s group gross income for the quarter grew by six percent to 10.3 billion rupees, with deposits increasing while lending fell, according to a […]
Bank Numbers
Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Banking Corporation (PABC) said September quarter profits rose 49 percent to 69 million rupees on income from trading government securities, despite higher bad loans and a shrinking loan book. Group interest income rose 9.0 percent to 788 million rupees, while interest expenses were flat at 450 […]
Flu Victim
November 8, 2009 (AFP) – A 16-year-old Sri Lankan boy became the first victim in the country of influenza A(H1N1), or swine flu, doctors said Sunday.“The boy had a history of respiratory problems and he died four days after admission to Kandy hospital,” Samarasinghe said. The Medical Research Institute in Colombo confirmed the boy, whose […]
Sri Lanka asked by France to end emergency, probe war crimes
November 7, 2009 (AFP) – A top French envoy Saturday asked Sri Lanka to end its state of emergency and probe war crimes ahead of a key European Union ruling on trade concessions to the troubled island. Ambassador for Human Rights, Francois Zimeray, said he hoped Colombo will signal the ending of its war with […]
Keel Laying
Nov 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shipyard Colombo Dockyard said it has laid the keel for construction of the fourth Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessel for Greatship India.The vessel is meant to support the offshore oil and gas industry, the yard said in a statement. The occasion was attended by the owner’s representatives, officials from […]
South Asian trade portal seen boosting regional trade
Nov 07, 2009 (LBO) – A trade portal launched for the south Asian region should improve trade within the region and especially help small businesses, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said in a statement. The portal www.saarctrade.info – gives importers, exporters and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the South Asian region access to important […]
Broad Band
CHENNAI, Nov 06, 2009 (LBO) – Despite improving quality, Sri Lankan fixed and mobile broadband internet users receive less bandwidth than ‘advertised’, while web hosting costs are also higher than developed countries, a telecom study has revealed. “It’s very clear that broadband speeds advertised by providers were more than what they could offer,” Chanuka Wattegama, […]
Consumer Sales
Nov 06, 2009 (LBO) – Cargills (Ceylon) group which runs Sri Lanka’s largest retail chain said profits rose 35 percent to 139 million rupees in the September 2009 quarter from a year earlier, and was planning a billion rupees in new investments in the current year. Last year, the firm had a 73 million rupee-one […]
Awaiting Arrest
JEDDAH, November 6, 2009 (AFP) – Larita Delacruz sits on the concrete base of a bridge pylon, rubs her swollen belly and explains her predicament: she is five months pregnant with twins, and wants to go home to give birth. But after four years of working as a maid in Saudi Arabia, she lacks both […]
Maldives to build wind power plant to become carbon neutral
Nov 05, 2009 (LBO) – The state power utility of the Indian Ocean atoll state of Maldives has signed a 20-year deal with Falcon Energy, a private firm to build and operate a 75MegaWatt wind farm as part of a plan to become a carbon neutral nation. The wind farm built a cost of 200 […]
Sri Lankan general returns without war crimes grilling
November 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s top military officer returned home Thursday after he was allowed to complete a US visit without being questioned over alleged war crimes against Tamil civilians.General Sarath Fonseka arrived at Bandaranaike International Airport and was immediately driven away under tight security, an airport official said. “He arrived this morning […]