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Sri Lankan stocks up 0.52-pct
Aug 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up 0.5 percent Friday with banks and hotel sector shares driving gains, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed up 0.52 percent (13.46 points) to close at 2,601.50 while the Milanka index of liquid stocks gained 1.0 percent (29.34 points) to close […]
Upgrade
Aug 28, 2009 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has upgraded the long-term rating of LB Finance (LBF) by one notch to ‘BBB’ from ‘BBB-‘ with a ‘stable’ outlook and its short term ‘P3’ rating has been confirmed. LBF’s return on assets (ROA) rose to 4.49 percent by March 2009 (end-March 2008: 4.01 percent) and return […]
Sri Lanka columnist shortlisted for Bastiat online journalism prize
Aug 28, 2009 (LBO) – Rohan Samarajiva, who writes Lanka Business Online’s ‘Choices’ column has been shortlisted for the 2009 Bastiat Prize for online journalism along with two others who write for Britain’s Telegraph and US based Forbes. Samarajiva, who heads LirneAsia, a policy research body, has been writing LBO’s widely read ‘Choices’ column from […]
Sri Lankans ask whether the US is a socialist state
Aug 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sweeping ‘nationalization’ of collapsing banks, state mandated mortgage lending and centrally planned interest rates has made the USA a socialist state, Sri Lankan viewers of a film on the US economic collapse said.Paulson, the multitude of bankers and financial journalists repeatedly said in the film, had made ‘mistakes,’ in being […]
Sri Lankan shares up 1.37-pct
Aug 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up on Thursday led by hotel stocks and index-heavy John Keells Holdings which close up despite foreign selling, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed up 1.37 percent (35.01 points) to close at 2,588.04 while the Milanka index of liquid stocks gained […]
Larger Bench
Aug 27, 2009 (LBO) – A case where Sri Lanka’s former Treasury Secretary is seeking permission to return to public service from which he was ousted by court, will be taken up before an expanded bench, lawyers said. Gamini Amaratunga, a serving judge was a part of the bench that delivered the original judgement on […]
Tele Rate
Aug 27, 2009 (LBO) – Standard and Poor’s has lifted the outlook of Sri Lanka Telecom’s (SLT) rating to ‘stable’ from negative, shortly after the host country’s outlook on its ‘B’ sovereign rating was lifted. “The stable outlook on SLT reflects the country risk factors,” S&P said. “Any downward movement of the sovereign ratings could […]
India summer crops may be 20 pct below normal: govt
NEW DELHI, August 27, 2009 (AFP) – India could record a 15 to 20 percent crop shortfall due to widespread drought caused by a bad monsoon, the finance minister said Thursday.Some 252 out of India’s 626 districts have been hit by drought as a result of the weak June-to-September monsoon that is running at 26 […]
Sri Lankan army calls execution video a fabrication
August 26, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military on Wednesday said a disturbing video clip broadcast in Britain allegedly showing its troops executing prisoners was a fabrication designed to “discredit” its armed forces.The footage, aired by Channel 4 in Britain, was apparently shot during the final stages of the army’s defeat of Tamil Tiger separatists, […]
Sri Lankan airlines loses Rs10bn
Aug 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines group has lost 9.99 billion rupees in the year to March 2009, down from a profit of 4.9 billion rupees a year earlier as revenue fell amid a global downturn and falling tourism arrivals at home. Sri Lankan Airlines group also has a catering subsidiary. At stand […]
Sri Lanka war, BOP crisis no longer hurt rating; budgets a problem: Fitch official
Aug 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s internal conflict and a balance of payments crisis that led to a rating downgrade and a negative outlook have now been wiped off the slate, but weak state revenues and high national debt are hurting Sri Lanka’s rating, a senior Fitch official said. In April 2008, Fitch downgraded […]
Sri Lanka T-bill yeilds frozen for third week
Aug 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasury bill yields were frozen at the weekly auction for the third week running, in auction where 10.1 billion rupees out of a maturing 12.0 billion was sold to the market, the government’s debt office said.The 3-month yield stayed at 10.57 percent, the 6-month yield at 11.43 percent […]