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Fitch rates Seylan Bank’s debt; says bank needs fresh capital, tight risk management
November 2, 2006 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has given a ‘BBB+(lka)’ rating for Seyl Bank’s upcoming five year unsecured subordinated redeemable debentures, the rating agency said Thursday. Seylan’s long-term debt is rated A-(lka) by Fitch with a stable rating outlook. The ratings reflect Seylan’s market position as the fifth-largest licensed commercial bank in Sri […]
Sri Lanka’s Central Bank not unduly worried about weak exchange rate
November 02, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lankan rupee briefly sank to a lifetime low on Wednesday, but the Central Bank says they are not worried about it, despite regularly pumping 390 million dollars to defend the currency. “Public enemy no: 1 is inflation,” says deputy governor W A Wijewardena. “Its like people have a good […]
Bigger Load
Nov 01 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines said Thursday that it would launch a regional charter service carrying cargo to South Asia, even reaching destinations not connected by scheduled flights. SriLankan Cargo currently offers scheduled services to 50 destinations in 28 countries, serviced by dedicated freighters and 14 mainline Airbus Aircraft. With the new service, businesses […]
Scam Trail
November 2, 2006 (LBO) – Authorities who are probing the Seagullsoftware Ponzi scam have found that the firm had accounts in at least two commercial banks, while its participants say cheques have cleared through yet another bank. Seagullsoftware ran a pyramid scam variant, which masqueraded as a business process outsourcing company. Banking sources say about […]
Aye, Aye
November 02, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank Ltd’s shareholders Thursday voted in favour of raising the bank’s authorised share capital and lifting the maximum shareholder limit to be on par with Central Bank guidelines. Sampath Bank may also be a possible takeover target once again, with a single shareholder making moves to own […]
Estate worker unions expect quick close to wage talks; tea production hits new highs
Nov 02 (LBO) – Sri Lanka posted record tea production in September, as estate worker trade unions thrash out a wage increase for over 250,000 plantation workers. Wage Talks Meanwhile, estate worker trade unions say they expect a quick closure in wage talks, with union officials downplaying strike action on some estates in Hatton over the […]
New Cap
November 2, 2006 (LBO) – Manju Hathotuwa former head of Sri Lanka’s ICT Agency has secured a posting with the World Bank for 18 months. An engineer by profession, he has worked across many local organizations serving industries such as IT and property development. .
Wider Footprint
November 2, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s number two mobile operator Celltel said on Thursday it has built 200 new towers in six months, to virtually double its coverage in key towns. Celltel, which launched an analogue network in 1989 to become the first phone company in South Asia to go cellular, is splashing out […]
Euro bills in Germany mysteriously disintegrating: report
BERLIN, Nov 2, 2006 (AFP) – Euro bills in Germany have begun mysteriously disintegrating, leading police to suspect a prank using sulfuric acid, the top-selling daily Bild reported Thursday.The state crime offices in Berlin and the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate have opened investigations after a number of bills began self-destructing across the country. The first […]
‘s Tiger Airways eyes six new South Asian routes in 2007: report
SINGAPORE, Nov 2, 2006 (AFP) – Singapore’s Tiger Airways has applied to India and Sri Lanka to fly to six destinations as part of a bid to ramp up its South Asian network, its chief executive said in remarks published Thursday. The Singapore-based budget carrier hopes to get the nod to fly next year to […]
Five killed in Sri Lanka air attack near hospital
Nov 2, 2006 (AFP) – At least five people were killed Thursday when Sri Lankan war planes bombed a house near the main hospital inside rebel-held territory in Kilinochchi, Tiger guerrillas said. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said Israeli-built jets carried out two sorties over the town of Kilinochchi and the blasts […]
Soldier killed in artillery duel in Sri Lanka
Nov 2, 2006 (AFP) – A soldier was killed and two injured as Sri Lankan troops and Tamil rebels traded fire across a de facto front line in the embattled Jaffna peninsula Thursday, the defence ministry said.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sparked the battle and security forces retaliated in kind, the ministry […]