Category: Industry
Box Business
Aug 07, 2009 (LBO) – Container volumes rose again in July 2009 at a Colombo port terminal partly owned by John Keells Holdings whose transportation business has been hit by the trade slump and loss of a ship fuel monopoly. Relatively low margin transhipment traffic accounts for a growing proportion of SAGT’s total throughput, they […]
Sri Lanka insurance regulator suspends Ceylinco Takaful
Aug 06, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s insurance regulator, the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka, has suspended the registration of Ceylinco Takaful for general insurance for three weeks, the government information department website said.It gave no further details. The suspension imposed on Ceylinco Takaful Limited remains till August 26, 2009, it said.It quoted the IBSL […]
Knowledge Wiki
Aug 06, 2009 (LBO) – Lankapedia, a newly launched Sri Lanka specific site styled on the popular Wikipedia portal, is setting the stage to make user generated content about the island more popular, officials said. “I think user generated content is the future,” says Rohan Samarajiva, head of LirneAsia, a regional think tank that has […]
Common Cause
Aug 06, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s transport and logistics professionals are to form a ‘logistics directors’ forum’ that aims to get industry leaders together to work for common objectives, a senior official said. “The general impression we got from all of them was that logistics is a key area for the country which we […]
Sri Lanka to increase diplomatic representation in China
Aug 05, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will open a consulate in Chengdu, following the opening of a consulate in Shanghai, increasing the island’s diplomatic representation in China, the foreign ministry said. Foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama who met visiting vice-governor of China’s Yunan province Gao Feng who was accompanied by a trade delegation. Minister Bogollagama […]
Tele Moves
Aug 05, 2009 (LBO) – India’s Bharti Airtel is planning to bid for Sri Lanka’s Tigo network which has been put on sale by its parent, Millicom International Cellular, a media report said. “Millicom’s Asian assets are potentially interesting for VimpelCom, because they are based in the region that VimpelCom views as the main strategic […]
Flu Epidemic
RIYADH, August 4, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan man and a Saudi teenager suffering from a heart defect have died from swine flu, raising the country’s flu death toll to six, the Saudi health ministry said on Tuesday.The Sri Lankan man, 32, was found dead in his hotel room on Monday, while the 15-year-old […]
Car Carrier
Aug 05, 2009 (LBO) – Global car carrier Höegh Autoliners has resumed calls at Colombo port, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said.A new port being built in southern Hambantota will have space fpr vehicle transhipment and assembly operations, he said. “We could see many lines arriving here for Ro-Ro (roll on-roll off) operations in […]
Good Quarter
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Banking Corporation (PABC) June quarter profits shot up 346 percent on strong net interest income and higher fee income despite rising bad loans, interim results showed. In the first six months of 2009, the banks performing loan book was up 12.2 percent to 10.66 billion rupees, […]
Bank Trends
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank (HNB) said group net profit shot up 76 percent to 996 million rupees in the June 2009 quarter from a year ago as interest margins improved but loan growth slowed. The balance sheet showed a steep 330 percent increase in holdings of government securities to […]
Repair Job
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard said it is getting more business in repairing offshore support vessels for the oil industry and has dedicated two docks for the work.Company officials said profit margins are higher on ship repairs as it involves more value addition and less material than in building new vessels. […]
Freight Move
Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – A plan to move containers by rail in Sri Lanka and reduce congestion on roads has finally got moving with the state-owned railay making it a priority, a senior official said.“It is our number one priority in future plans,” said P P Wijesekera, General Manager of the Railways Department. “The […]