Category:
Boat Business
Dec 13, 2010 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan boat yard taken over and revived by Dubai-based interests delivered a trawler for an African client last week and plans to meet Indian navy requirements for small patrol boats, officials said. Solas Marine Lanka is part of Solas Marine Services group, a Dubai-based multinational providing services to […]
Credit Control
Dec 13, 2010 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has confirmed Senkadagala Finance Company’s (SFC) national long-term rating at ‘BBB+(lka)’ with a stable outlook, a statement said. The company was established in 1968 by the Balasuriya family, who own 90 percent of SFC’s equity. “SFC’s rating reflects its long operating history and good capital structure, as […]
Prime Trend
Dec 13, 2010 (LBO) – Bad loans at Sri Lanka’s commercial banks are falling, and profits are rising and credit growth is picking up as the economy recovers and a leaves behind the effects of a burst bubble, a report by the island’s banking regulator shows. Pre-tax profits had risen to 35 billion rupees at […]
Sub Prime
Dec 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance companies, the island’s sub-prime lenders, have returned to profits and strengthened capital, but bad loans were still high as the sector recovered from a downturn, a report by the regulator shows. Bad loans at registered finance companies rose to 11. 7 percent of gross loans by June […]
Sri Lanka draws Mövenpick Hotels in management deal
Dec 13, 2010 (LBO) – The Swiss hotel chain Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has won a management agreement to operate the Mövenpick Hotel Colombo, a 180-room property in Sri Lanka, a statement said. Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, a hotel management company with over 12,000 employees, has over 90 hotels existing or under construction in 26 […]
Joint Effort
Dec 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s investment professionals body has tied up with the island’s software trade group to promote finance business process outsourcing, a statement said. SLASSCOM wants to help the IT-BPO industry increase export revenues. The deal aims to exploit growing demand for Sri Lankan financial professionals from BPO and information technology […]
Ad Battle
NEW YORK, December 13, 2010 (AFP) – Facebook is challenging Google’s supremacy on the Internet with a radically different approach to how people live, work, play and search online. While Google delivers search results selected by algorithms that take into account a user’s Web history, Facebook boasts a richer level of personalisation based on one’s […]
Sri Lanka Tamils concerned over national anthem report
December 13, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamils expressed concern on Monday over a media report suggesting that the government was set to ban singing the national anthem in their language. Language and discrimination were key issues used by the Tamil Tiger separatists to gain popular support for their campaign. The main Tamil party, the […]
Sri Lanka said keen on public-private partnerships
Dec 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is keen on partnerships between the public and private sectors in developing its economy, the International Finance Corporation, which is supporting the initiative, said in a statement. Sri Lanka is actively considering options to increase private participation in development,” it quoted Sarath Amunugama, Sri Lanka’s Senior Minister of […]
Naval Amity
Dec 12, 2010 (LBO) – Warships from foreign navies, including India, joined Sri Lanka’s navy in a sail past Saturday amid improving maritime security co-operation to combat crimes on the high seas like human and arms smuggling. The Chinese navy sent the frigate ‘Lanzhou’ and Pakistan the frigate ‘Zulfiqar’ while the navies of Iran, Thailand […]
Indian microlenders face crisis, warns industry group
NEW DELHI, December 12, 2010 (AFP) – India’s seven-billion-dollar microfinance industry could be thrown into crisis by a bill that seeks to regulate lending to the poor more tightly, a lobby representing the sector has warned. The sector is also under fire in neighbouring Bangladesh where the micro lending model was pioneered, with Prime Minister […]
Sri Lanka spice firm registers trademark over McDonalds objection: report
Dec 12, 2010 (LBO) – Lanka Spice Limited, a Sri Lankan-based spice firm has successfully registered its trademark ‘McCurrie’ over objection of McDonalds, a US-based fast food chain, a media report said. Lanka Spice has been in the market since 1982 The Sunday Times newspaper said. The report quoted Lanka Spice chairman Nalin Pathikirikorale as […]