Category: Industry
Sri Lanka hotel earnings growth seen subdued
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka expects more tourists this winter season with heightened interest in the destination after the war ended but hotel earnings are not likely to improve immediately, officials and analysts said.“We can’t definitely see a concrete increase in numbers right now but certainly there’s improved sentiment,” Tourist Hotels Association of […]
Forex Loss
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank, a unit of John Keells Holdings has lost 800 million rupees on a forex bet, but the bank had ended the June 2009 quarter with a 150 million rupees in the black with bond trading profits, its interim results showed.In the June quarter the bank […]
State Rating
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has confirmed the ‘AA(lka)’ rating of state-run Bank of Ceylon (BOC) with a ‘stable’ outlook but noted rising bad loans and higher exposure to the state sector.The agency has also confirmed the ‘AA-(lka)’ rating of the bank’s subordinated debentures, individual rating at ‘D/E’ and support rating at […]
Credit Movement
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka said it has confirmed Sanasa Development Bank’s (SDB) national long-term rating at ‘BB(lka)’ with a stable outlook.“SDB’s rating reflects its historically high levels of profitability and moderate asset quality,” the rating agency said in a statement. “The rating is constrained by the riskier nature of its client […]
Refugee Fund
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it has opened an account to receive contributions from the public for the welfare and resettlement of people displaced by the ethnic war.It said in a statement all contributions to the account, set up in response to public inquiries about making contributions, are exempted from […]
Enigmatic Pakistan bounce back in second Test
July 13, 2009 (AFP) – Debutant Fawad Alam scored an unbeaten century as Pakistan produced a remarkable turnaround to claw their way back in the second Test against Sri Lanka on Monday.The tourists, who were bowled out for 90 in their first innings, hit back to dismiss Sri Lanka for 240 and then cruised to […]
Sri Lanka May 2009 clothing exports fall, tea shipments up
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s May 2009 export earnings fell 27.8 percent to 538.5 million US dollars from year ago, mainly because of lower clothing exports, although tea exports went up, the Central Bank said. Imports of consumer goods fell by 41.2 percent to 140 million US dollars, largely on account of lower […]
Outsourcing
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – India’s Quatrro BPO Solutions said it is considering moving more business process outsourcing work to Sri Lanka and that productivity concerns raised by its chairman Raman Roy were limited to certain processes.“We are in active discussions to move more processes to Sri Lanka and Quatrro continues to be a strong […]
Best Bank
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – HSBC said it had been named the ‘Best Global Bank, by Euromoney magazine, in its 2009 awards.It also won the Best Global Debt House and Best Global Transaction Banking House, awards. Michael Geoghegan, group chief executive of HSBC said in a statement that winning award during the turmoil was not […]
Northern Loan
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is giving three billion rupees to several banks to lend to small and micro businesses in agriculture and fisheries and in the war-torn north of the island. Following the end of fighting with Tamil Tiger separatists in May, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu have been largely depopulated and […]
Shipping Forum
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to host a meeting of Asian shippers in Colombo, a conference made possible after 15 years of lobbying because of the end of the ethnic war, the Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council (SLSC) said. The meeting is expected discuss policy issues, maritime security, shipping costs like terminal handling […]
Sri Lanka on top as Pakistan hit new low
July 12, 2009 (AFP) – Seamer Nuwan Kulasekera took a career-best 4-21 as Sri Lanka took early charge of the second cricket Test after bowling Pakistan out for a paltry 90 on Sunday. The tourists, electing to bat on a wicket that provided early assistance to the seamers, slumped to their lowest total against Sri […]