Category:
Profit Standard
LONDON, March 3, 2009 (AFP) – Emerging markets bank Standard Chartered said Tuesday that net profit jumped a fifth to 3.41 billion dollars (2.69 billion euros) in 2008, leaving it well-placed to face the global slowdown. Despite the gain in profits after tax, Standard Chartered was not immune to rising bad debts linked to the […]
Downgraded
Mar 03, 2009 (LBO) – The ‘AAA(lka)’ rating on Sri Lanka’s Dialog Telekom was cut by two notches to ‘AA(lk)’ Fitch Ratings, following price competition which is weakening margins and rising costs, Fitch Ratings said. Dialog’s rating of its outstanding redeemable preference shares reflected the subordinate nature of the instrument. Though Dialog has started a […]
Outlook Cut
Mar 03, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has cut the credit outlook of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the island’s largest fixed access operator, to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’ after the sovereign rating outlook was lowered last week. Fitch said SLT’s long-term foreign currency rating of ‘B+’ and local currency rating of ‘BB-‘ were unchanged. Its domestic […]
Sri Lanka Ceylinco Insurance veterans promoted
March 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco Insurance said it has appointed Rajkumar Renganathan and Ajith Gunawardena, chief executive directors of the company’s Life and General insurance divisions, as joint deputy chairmen of the company with immediate effect. A company statement also said its funds were invested according to regulatory guidelines and that only […]
Pakistan attackers laid siege then fled: police
LAHORE, March 3, 2009 (AFP) – The attackers who ambushed Sri Lanka’s cricketers near a Pakistani stadium mounted a sophisticated assault using rockets, grenades and guns before escaping in stolen cars, police said. Witnesses said the attack started with an explosion at 08:40 am (0340 GMT) as a convoy carrying the Sri Lankan national team […]
Sri Lankan cricketers hurt in Pakistan attack: police
LAHORE, March 3, 2009 (AFP) – Masked gunmen opened fire on the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday, killing at least eight people and wounding six team members, police said.Sri Lankan officials said six team members — five players and a coach — were wounded and that […]
Three Sri Lanka cricketers wounded in Pakistan shooting: minister
March 3, 2009 (AFP) – At least three players in the Sri Lankan cricket team were hurt in a gun attack while being driven to the Lahore cricket stadium in Pakistan on Tuesday, Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge said. The team bus came under fire as the players headed to the Gaddafi stadium for the third […]
Several Sri Lankan players shot and wounded in Lahore: manager
LAHORE, March 3, 2009 (AFP) – Several Sri Lankan cricket players were shot and wounded Tuesday when their bus came under fire in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, their manager Brenden Kurrupu told AFP. . .
Sri Lanka comes under IMF microscope
Mar 03, 2009 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund has sent a mission to Sri Lanka to look at the country’s “near-term outlook”, the global monetary watchdog said, as the island is grappling with the worst balance of payments crisis in a decade. The binges brought minor currency crises in 2004, 2006 and 2007 as […]
Sri Lanka negotiating more forex swaps, Jan intervention U$251mn: Central Bank
Mar 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank says it is negotiating two swap agreements with central banks to boost the country’s flagging foreign reserves, as interventions continue to pressure the rupee. Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves fell to 1,753 million US dollars in December. The latest official data shows that the Central Bank […]
Sri Lankan stocks close down
Mar 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares took a beating on Monday as investors preferring to stay away in the wake of poor corporate results published during the weekend, analysts said. Fixed line giant Sri Lanka Telecom was down 75 cents to close at 35. Foreign buying was at 17.5 million rupees, while foreign […]
Banking Woes
March 02, 2009(LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank said it made a loss of 709 million rupees in the December 2008 quarter compared with group net profit of 199 million a year ago with a sharp rise in bad loans and a slowdown in deposits.Total capital adequacy ratio at bank level has slipped to 8.32 […]