Category:
Stock Allocation
Dec 24, 2010 (LBO) – Small investors who applied for up to 500 shares in a share issue by Sri Lanka’s Singer Finance (Lanka) will get all they asked for, issue manager NDB Investment Bank said in a stock exchange filing. The funds raised via the IPO will be used by the company to expand […]
Missing Syndrome
GENEVA, December 23, 2010 (AFP) – An international accord aimed at preventing abductions — a fate affecting tens of thousands of people throughout the world — came into force Thursday, the United Nations said. “In Latin America, where a number of countries are parties to the convention, thousands of families still await information on the […]
Onions, coconuts and the politics of taste in S.Asia
NEW DELHI, December 24, 2010 (AFP) – Food and politics have always been closely intertwined in the developing countries of South Asia, but when national taste buds are at stake the relationship can become especially volatile. A shortage of onions in India, a dearth of coconuts in Sri Lanka and the soaring price of cooking […]
Sri Lanka formula racing tracks mulled by FIA
Dec 24, 2010 (LBO) – The Federation International de Automobile (FIA), the governing body of world motor sport, is considering setting up two international formula racing tracks in Sri Lanka, the government said. A statement from President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s office said Jean Todt, the president of the International Automobile Federation, had explored the possibility of […]
Sri Lanka universities live up to their billing: Reject PhDs and hire non-PhDs
Dec 24, 2010 (LBO) – In a recent column on the failure of Sri Lankan universities, I said that: Faculty select their successors.Poor-quality faculty will select more poor-quality academics. Because they want to be the big dogs in the pound they admit only weaker animals. The big dogs retire, and the weaklings replace them. They apply the […]
Sri Lanka tax refund delays worry Japanese investors
Dec 24, 2010 (LBO) – Japanese investors are keen to invest in post-war Sri Lanka but firms already operating in the island are concerned about delays in value-added tax refunds and high electricity tariffs, a visiting lawmaker said. These concerns were conveyed to the investment promotion agency, Board of Investment, by Hirofumi Hirano, chairman of […]
Sri Lanka creates management entity for state firms ahead of listing
Dec 24, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has set up a management company to manage several defunct state enterprises prior to a listing of a partial stake on the Colombo stock exchange, a senior finance ministry official said. Recent IPOs have been heavily over-subscribed owing to pent-up demand for shares with company earnings increasing and […]
Sri Lanka forex reserves fall
Dec 23, 2010 (LBO) – Remittances by migrant Sri Lankan workers rose 22 percent in the first 10 months of 2010 but foreign reserves have fallen slightly after central bank dollar sales, latest data showed. “During the first ten months of 2010, workers’ remittances increased by 21.9 percent to 3,380 million US dollars after adjusting […]
Sri Lanka shares end up 0.86-pct
Dec 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed higher Thursday with prices of poultry firms, that had been heavily traded recently, weakening and active trading in a retail firm seen doing well during the festive season, brokers said. Conglomerate John Keells Holdings closed at 300 rupees, down a rupee with 2.5 million shares changing […]
Sri Lanka tea prices end year on high note
Dec 23, 2010 (LBO) – Prices of Sri Lanka’s low grown teas, which make up 60 percent of production, rose at the last auction for the year this week with average prices also higher than last year, brokers said. “There was better demand at this week’s auction for low grown teas and prices gained selectively […]
Sri Lanka to get first onion shipment next Monday
Dec 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to get its first ship load of imported ‘big’ onions next week as traders claimed they had run out of stocks Thursday after an export ban imposed by India, the main supplier. Sri Lanka usually imports 4,000-5,000 tonnes of big onions a week from India. The Pettah […]
Sri Lanka Treasuries yields steady
Dec 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasury bill yields across all tenors remained steady at Wednesday’s auction with the government rolling over nine billion rupees worth of maturing bonds, the debt office said. The debt office said it accepted 9,165 million rupees from the auction. The yield on three-months bills stayed flat at 7. […]