Category: Industry
Green Commerce
April 07, 2009 (LBO) – New technology that allows multiple telecom services to be delivered over a single network can sharply lower costs and make commerce greener, Hans Wijayasuriya, the head of Sri Lanka’s biggest mobile firm said. Wijayasuriya was addressing a Next Generation Networks (NGN) standardization forum in Colombo organised by the Telecommunications Regulatory […]
Regulatory Forbearance
April 06, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government is considering relaxing criteria for bad loan provisioning to help the corporate sector cope with the effects an economic downturn, a senior finance ministry official said. Some private sector representatives from the construction sector, which has been badly affected by the slowdown, also asked at the […]
Merchant Rating
April 06, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka said it has confirmed the ‘BBB’ rating of Merchant Credit of Sri Lanka Ltd.(MCSL) with a stable outlook. The rating reflects the implied support assumed to be available from its ultimate parent, state-owned Bank of Ceylon (BOC, ‘AA(lka)’), Sri Lanka’s largest bank, the rating agency said in […]
Hedging Claim
April 04, 2009 (LBO) – Deutsche Bank has filed arbitration proceedings against the government of Sri Lanka over non-payment in oil derivatives deals with state refiner Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).Citibank has already gone into arbitration against the CPC. CPC did the derivatives deals to protect itself when oil prices were surging and the contracts were […]
Sri Lanka state textile firm to be revived
April 03, 2009 (LBO) – Lanka Salusala, a partly operational Sri Lankan state textile firm which is overstaffed and debt ridden, is to be closed down and re-started as a new business entity. Textile development minister Mahinda Rathnathilaka said the firm will be revived as there are many legal issues relating to its liquidation. “We […]
Annual Picture
Apr 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Bank group has reported net profits of 3,427 million rupees in 2008, 2.2 percent lower, while interest income grew 23.4 percent to 64.3 billion rupees, according to the annual report. At stand alone bank level net profits were up 13.9 percent to 2,704 million rupees, with group […]
Sri Lanka gets more duty free access to Pakistan
April 02, 2009 (LBO) – Pakistan has increased the number of products that can be imported from Sri Lanka to 4,000 under the final phase of the free trade deal between the two countries.Exporters can obtain concessions under the FTA from the Department of Commerce which is the authority that is monitoring the implementation of […]
Closed Door
WASHINGTON, April 1, 2009 (AFP) – The United States began taking visa applications Wednesday for highly skilled foreigners, with lawmakers pressing to close the door to some of the long-coveted workers amid the recession.Robert Hoffman, a vice president at software giant Oracle and co-chair of Compete America, a coalition of tech companies lobbying to hire […]
Shrinking Credit
April 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector credit is shrinking with credit card users also falling for two straight months as an economic slowdown begins to bite, the latest official data show. Credit from central bank to the government rose to 244.5 billion rupees in January 2009, from 217.4 billion rupees a month […]
Oil Hit
April 02, 2009 (LBO) – Non-performing assets at Citibank’s Sri Lanka branch have rocketed after state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) refused to pay up on controversial oil derivatives which went against the utility.Citi, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and locally incorporated People’s Bank and Commercial Bank sold oil derivatives to CPC. Commercial Bank took a 692 […]
Lubricant Trends
April 01, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Chevron unit said net profit for the 2008 financial year fell 12 percent to 948 million rupees from a year ago with high fuel price and economic slowdown reducing sales amid increasing competition.Revenue for the financial year ending December 31, 2008 rose three percent to 8.9 billion rupees, […]
Female Targets
April 01, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan retailer Odel said it has opened a fashion accessories store for women called ‘Backstage’ in Singapore with more overseas outlets planned.Gunewardene said that later this year, Backstage will open its second outlet in Singapore at Orchard Central and also plans to enter the Maldives and India. Janine Magrath, […]