Category: Industry
Under Pressure
Nov 05, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings says Sri Lanka’s finance companies are coming under stress from the current high interest rates and inflation, which increases risks especially in smaller finance companies. Updated/corrected, bailout numbers While most finance companies are well capitalized compared to their risk assets, 12 smaller firms out of 31 do not […]
High Growth
Nov 05, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) has grown 40.3 percent in the year to March 31 2007 compared to the rest of the industry which grew at 16 percent, Fitch Ratings said, confirming the firm’s ‘A(lka)’ rating. However Fitch said bad loans were rising and asked the leasing firm to “aggressively […]
Sri Lanka beaten by Queensland in tour match
BRISBANE, Australia, Nov 4, 2007 (AFP) – Queensland staved off a Sri Lankan pace onslaught to hold on for a four-wicket victory on the final day of their three-day tour match at Allan Border Field here Sunday.In-form Noffke had match figures of 8-57 while Test squad member Mitchell Johnson had a quiet game ahead of […]
Sri Lanka, Australia announce Warne-Muralitharan trophy
SYDNEY, Nov 3, 2007 (AFP) – Australia and Sri Lanka will play for the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy this month in honour of the two leading wicket-takers in Test history, Cricket Australia and Sri Lanka Cricket announced Saturday.Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, who have taken more than 1400 Test wickets between them, have lent their names to […]
Sri Lanka fight back after bad start against Queensland
BRISBANE, Australia, Nov 2, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka fought back after an early innings collapse to claim four Queensland wickets on an eventful opening day of their three-day tour match at Allan Border Field here Friday.The Queenslanders won the toss and had the tourists struggling at 81 for six in the 27th over before […]
Spending Power
Nov 02, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan conglomerate Hemas Holdings has reported a sharp fall in net profit for the September quarter as high inflation erodes consumer spending and high interest rates make borrowing for investments more costly. Group net profits fell 44 percent to 166 million in the second quarter ending September 2007, according […]
Fresh Face
Nov 02, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s newest registered finance company, Swarnamahal Financial Services (SFS), kicked off this week offering a range of lending and deposit products. CEO Hafeez Rajudin says the company, a unit of the EAP group, will soon open two branches in Kandy and Colombo. In addition to hire purchase and leases, […]
Too Slow
Nov 02, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s motor trade is lobbying the government to discourage used car imports and change import duty to make brand new vehicles more affordable. The Ceylon Motor Traders’ Association (CMTA) says the government has still not responded to repeated proposals to restructure vehicle tax regulations and introduce a method of […]
Anti-doping sleuths arrive in Sri Lanka for Rugby championship
November 02, 2007 (LBO) — The International Rugby Board’s anti-doping inspectors arrived in the Sri Lanka to kick off the Asian Rugby championship which starts in Colombo later this week, officials said Friday. Tim Ricketts, the board’s anti-doping Manager, will lead the panel during the nine-nation event which runs from November 3-10. “We will do […]
Happy Shopping
Nov 02, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan media management and marketing services company, has tied up with a UK firm to offer retail design and research to optimize revenues, officials said. Vanguard Management Services has tied up with Shopworks, a UK consultancy which has worked with retailers like Tesco, Carrefour, Wal-Mart as well as […]
Broad Highway
Nov 01, 2007 (LBO) – Dialog Broadband Networks, a unit of Dialog Telekom launched broadband services offering high download speeds at competitive prices which can potentially take-over the corporate leased line market for internet, officials said. The firm uses Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) to offer download speeds of up to 4Megabits per second […]
Blank Cheque
Nov 01, 2007 (LBO) – Tariff preferences available under European Union market access concessions are a ‘blank cheque’ for Sri Lankan exporters to penetrate sophisticated markets, trade officials said. Director of Commerce Kulatunga Perera said the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences Plus scheme will be reviewed in 2008 and that he was confident Sri Lanka […]