Category: Industry
Green Revolution
August 17, 2007 (LBO) – Rice farmers in India™s West Bengal made history when they successfully traded carbon credits for cash – with lessons for Sri Lanka taking its first tentative steps in carbon finance. About 33 Indian rice mill owners banded together and agreed to switch from polluting diesel oil they used in their […]
Hospital Play
August 17, 2007 (LBO) – Asha Central Hospitals said Friday several parties were negotiating to buy the controlling stake of the firm after its share price more than doubled to 80 rupees over the week. The firm later bought the property in Norris Canal Road with borrowed funds. More than 80 percent of the company […]
Credit Build
August 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s banking sector assets had expanded 9.5 percent, with loans rising 11.2 percent against deposit growth of 7.6 percent, the Central Bank which regulates the sector said. . “Banking sector has shown a significant expansion during the first half of 2007 reflecting continued expansion in economic activity,” the Central […]
Looking Up
August 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank June quarter profits surged 78 percent with revenues going up by 21 percent despite flat loan growth, interim results filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange showed. Group net profit after tax grew to 458.6 million rupees in the three months ended June 2007 from 257.7 million […]
Card Credit
August 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HSBC bank, the top credit card issuer in the island has tightened credit card based lending in the face of a spike in defaults, officials said.“We have seen an increase in non-performing advances,” HSBC’s head of personal banking Simon Williams told LBO. “When inflation picks up and expenses […]
‘s legal threat
NEW DELHI, Aug 16, 2007 (AFP) – Former India captain Bishan Bedi has rubbished Muttiah Muralitharan’s demand for monetary damages for suggesting the Sri Lankan off-spinner was a cheat, reports said on Thursday.“I am a free man and I have a right to express my opinion,” Bedi, 60, was quoted as saying by the Times […]
Bring it on
Aug 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top celco Dialog Telekom said it was not worried by the entry of Indian mobile giant Bharti Airtel which is set to start commercial operations early next year. Dialog has also launched low cost insurance schemes. “We have operated in a very competitive market place alongside three competitors […]
Sri Lanka pushes sports events to revive tourism
August 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka wants to use sports events like a forthcoming marathon to entice more tourists to the island and rebuild an image tarnished by war and allegations of human rights abuses, officials said. The number of tourists to Sri Lanka fell 20 percent to 44,142 in July and arrivals in […]
Insurance Value
Aug 16, 2007 (LBO) – Net profits of Union Assurance surged 84 percent to 30 million rupees in the June quarter, interim accounts released by the insurer showed. General and life insurance premiums for the quarter grew by 23 percent, to 1.1 billon rupees in 2007 from 924 million in 2006. The firm paid 711 […]
Double Deal
August 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Eagle Insurance, a unit of Aviva, has reported sharply higher net profit for the June quarter of 50 million rupees up 203 percent, with higher investment income boosting the bottomline. “Eagle’s bancassurance partnerships with NDB bank and Standard Chartered Bank have continued to contribute positively to results in […]
Chinese Connection
August 16, 2007 (LBO) – Colombo port has sent dock worker union leaders to study practices in a modern Chinese port and has now won their support for better work norms, a top official said. Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya said relations between port management and workers was now better than last […]
Crack Spread
August 16, 2007 (LBO) – The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation which runs Sri Lanka’s only refinery has hedged the crack margin of a portion of its diesel and kerosene output in a deal with the Standard Chartered Bank, an official said. CPC is also planning to expand its refinery capacity by going for an 800 million […]