Category: Industry
Sri Lanka Janashakthi Insurance suspension lifted
May 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s insurance regulator said it had lifted a suspension on the registration of Janashakthi Insurance from today, after the firm showed “sufficient cause”. Janashakthi said it last week it was making fresh proposals to meet the regulator’s concerns. “The Insurance Board of Sri Lanka has accepted the Company’s explanations […]
Trim Talk
May 27, 2009 (LBO) – Subscribers of Sri Lanka’s Hutch, a unit of Hutchison had dropped 44 percent to 772,000 in the year to March 2009 amid steep price cuts and an entry of a fifth operator to the market. Dialog, a unit of Telekom Malaysia and the island’s dominant mobile phone operator, said its […]
Spell Check
May 27, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan chapter of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) has launched the second season of Spellmaster, a spelling contest which it hopes will improve English spelling and vocabulary skills among school children. Being an avid reader from a very young age, I always referred the dictionary to […]
Asset Backed
May 27, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka said it has confirmed People’s Leasing Co.Ltd. Trust 32’s (PLC32) 119.7 million rupee lease-backed trust certificates (LBTCs) at ‘A-(lka)’ with a stable outlook.A Loss Severity rating of ‘LS-3’ has been assigned, it said in a statement. “The affirmation is based on the uninterrupted payouts made to LBTC […]
Rescue Mission
May 27, 2009 (LBO) – The Finance Company can be turned around within six months, according to Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) which has been appointed by the banking regulator to manage the troubled finance firm. “The only way to move forward The Finance is engage in day-to-day activities.If not, we can’t meet the […]
Sri Lanka Ceylinco Insurance March profit down 29-pct
May 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco Insurance Company said March 2009 net profit fell 29 percent to 101 million rupees from a year ago as claims went up, despite a sharp increase in investment income. The firm is part of the Ceylinco group which was thrown into a crisis when an unlisted subsidiary, […]
Mobile Growth
May 26, 2009 (LBO) – Mobitel, a unit of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), has increased subscribers by 73 percent to 2.8 million in the year to March 2009, while revenues climbed 48 percent to 3.6 billion rupees in the first quarter, the group said. In the year to March 2009, Millicom International Cellular said its […]
Bank Trade
May 26, 2009 (LBO) – Profits of HSBC’s Sri Lanka unit grew 40 percent to 628.1 million rupees in the March 2009 quarter on strong foreign exchange income, despite rising interest expenses, its published accounts showed. The bank’s gross assets from December to March had grown by 8.2 percent to 161,544.4 million rupees, while net […]
Tight Quarter
May 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank said group profits fell 12.9 percent to 892 million rupees in the March 2009 quarter, as its loan book shrank and the firm also changed the way it accounted for a troubled oil derivative sale. “In the future provisions will be provided after making an assessment […]
Sri Lanka gets more Emirates flights
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – Emirates said it will increase flights to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo by resuming services via Male from July 1 with the launch of three additional flights a week between Dubai and Colombo.From July 1, 2009, Emirates flight EK 654 will depart Dubai at 1020 hours local time and arrive […]
Thin Margins
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom group said profits fell 42 percent to 974 million rupees in the March 2009 quarter with fixed access revenues falling while the mobile sector showed growth. Chairperson Leisha De Silva Chandresena said the firm’s performance came amid adverse economic conditions worldwide. The firm said broadband and data […]
Tele Merger
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – India’s Bharti Airtel said it was talking with MTN group, a firm operating in Africa and the Middle East, to buy 49 percent of its in return for a 36 percent stake in the Indian firm. Bharti Airtel has a unit in Sri Lanka. The Bharti shares would be split […]