Category:
Sri Lanka coconut exporter wins agribusiness award
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Renuka Agrifoods, a Sri Lankan exporter of value-added agro-based products, especially coconut, has won a top award for agribusiness.The company, a subsidiary of the listed Renuka Holdings, said in a statement it was named Overall National Winner (Gold Award) at the recent National Agribusiness Awards 2009. It also clinched the […]
Cairn on brink of big win in India oil gamble
NEW DELHI, August 25, 2009 (AFP) – Oil entrepreneur Bill Gammell took a big gamble 12 years ago — and his winnings look set to start rolling in as Cairn Energy, the company he heads, begins to pump oil from under western India.Cairn aims to draw 175,000 barrels of oil per day — accounting for […]
Microsoft revs up low-budget mobile phones
SAN FRANCISCO, August 24, 2009 (AFP) – Microsoft on Monday unveiled software that lets Twitter, Facebook and other hot Internet services be delivered to low-cost “feature phones” common in developing countries.The US technology giant will debut OneApp in South Africa and hopes to swiftly roll it out in India, China and other countries where millions […]
Sri Lankan court bails war-zone doctors
August 24, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan magistrate on Monday bailed four doctors held for allegedly spreading rebel propaganda before the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. The doctors were arrested in May after they left an area where security forces fought the final battle against the separatist rebels. “They have been asked to post […]
” by S&P
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Standard & Poor’s has lifted the outlook on Sri Lanka’s speculative ‘B’ sovereign rating to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ on expectations of better policy under an International Monetary Fund program and capital inflows. A sovereign rating measures the creditworthiness of the government. Sri Lanka’s high spending governments, that frequently borrows from […]
Sri Lanka foreign reserves US$3.2bn: CB governor
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves have topped 3.2 billion dollars after a large inflow into the country’s government securities market, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. “You will see enormous opportunities,” Cabraal told a forum on Islamic financial instruments organized by Rating Agency Malaysia in Colombo. “There will be extraordinary positions […]
Sri Lankan stocks up 0.30-pct
Aug 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up Monday as institutional and high-net-worth investors traded the blue chip John Keells Holdings (JKH) which boosted turnover, while there was much retail interest on Lanka Cement, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed up 0.30 percent (7.54 points) to end at […]
Overlooking
Aug 24, 2009 (LBO) – Following the resignation of PABC chief executive Kimarli Fernando, deputy general manager has been appointed acting chief executive “with immediate effect,” the bank said in a stock exchange filing.Fernando had resigned with the effect from November 23, 2009, the statement said. Fernando joined PABC from the Colombo branch of Standard […]
Strong Numbers
Aug 24, 2009 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon group grew 82. 1 percent to 1,832 million rupees from a year earlier, on strong net interest growth and forex income, despite higher loan losses, interim June 2009 quarter accounts showed. Deposits grew 13.7 percent to 361.2 billion rupees from the beginning […]
Sri Lanka Aitken Spence, Six Senses revive spa project
Aug 24, 2009 (LBO) – Aitken Spence, one of Sri Lanka’s top hotel firms, has resumed talks with Six Senses Spas, an international spa chain, on building an up-market resort on the south-west coast, a senior official said.“Next to Heritance Ahungalla we have 10 acres and 27 acres on an island in Madhu Ganga, very […]
Minister says Air India needs bailout: report
NEW DELHI, August 24, 2009 (AFP) – Air India needs a bailout of nearly 620 million dollars to keep flying, a minister said in remarks published Monday, in which he added he was certain the loss-making airline would survive. “I want this reduced for both low-cost and full-service carriers,” he said.“I have always advocated a […]
Sri Lanka Hemas to list power company
Aug 24, 209 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas Holdings group said the Colombo stock exchange has approved its application to list a power subsidiary, Hemas Power, on the bourse’s main board. Hemas owns half of the Heladhanavi 100 mega watt thermal power plant and a two mega watt mini-hydro power plant in Kandy in the […]