Category: Industry
Below Par
June 06, 2009 (LBO) – Ships calling at Colombo port are still experiencing delays owing to problems in a new computerised terminal management system, shipping agents said. Colombo is south Asia’s transhipment hub port with better cranes than other ports in the region but its computer systems had not been updated for some time. The […]
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June 5, 2009 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has lifted the outlook on Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation’s (SLIC) ‘AA-‘ claims paying ability to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’, following its return to state hands. “The positive outlook reflects the stronger level of financial flexibility that SLIC is expected to enjoy in the form of Government support,” RAM […]
One Horse
June 5, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) is the sole bidder for a 33 percent stake in Seylan Bank offered by the Central Bank to a strategic partner that can inject equity to the firm, market sources said. “In response to the invitation for fresh bids by the Central Bank […]
Search King
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2009 (AFP) – Google, already the king of Internet search, rolled out an experimental new search product on Wednesday called “Google Squared.” Google Squared does not provide a list of links to Web pages, like with a traditional Google search, but presents information derived from a query in a spreadsheet-like grid called […]
Sri Lanka gets $25mn Indian hotel investment
June 04, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government said it had approved a proposal by an Indian company to set up a four-star hotel and convention centre with an investment of 25 million US dollars.Media minister Anura Yapa said the unsolicited proposal had been received from Suchirindia Hotel and Resorts in Hyderabad, India. The […]
Banking Conduit
June 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon is providing banking services for refugees in several camps in the north of the island to get financial help from their relatives, a top official said.Nearly 300,000 people held as a human shield by the Tamil Tigers before they were defeated last month are […]
Credit Lift
June 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Bank said it had slashed its interest rate on credit cards to 30 percent a year from 42 percent to ease repayment difficulties and the burden on consumers whose spending has declined.The bank also noted how other countries like the USA, are taking action to reform […]
Port Bids
June 03, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has extended for the second time the deadline for proposals from investors to build and operate a new deep-water container terminal in Colombo port.Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) officials said the deadline for bids is now July 8. Previously, the government had extended the deadline to […]
Audit Query
June 02, 2009 (LBO) – The auditors of Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank have qualified its 2008 accounts over related party transactions and flagged overdue loans as the regulator looks for a strategic partner to bring in new capital. KPMG Ford, Rhodes, Thornton & Company said they could not confirm the completeness of the related party […]
Rough Seas
June 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Mercantile Shipping Company said it made a loss in the 2008-09 financial year during which it sold off old ships and firmed up orders for new ones. The company said a voluntary retirement was offered in the March quarter and that based on the number of applications and […]
Is lightening a risk for modern aircraft?
PARIS, June 2, 2009 (AFP) – Passenger jets are hit by lightning every 1,000 hours — on average twice a year — and experts say the risk from the bolts of electricity is growing. But technical experts, astounded like everyone else by the disappearance of an Air France jet in the Atlantic with the feared […]
Slow Sales
June 02, 2009 (LBO) – Listed consumer durables firm Singer (Sri Lanka) said March 2009 quarter profits plunged 79 percent to 26 million rupees from a year ago as consumer spending slumped amid an economic slowdown. Group sales for the three months ended March 31, 2009 fell 23 percent to three billion rupees, the company […]