Category: Banking and Finance

May 15, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s pioneering Islamic insurer, Amana Takaful PLC plans to invest more into fixed income securities, after its bottomline was hit by falling equity prices and lower returns from gold, officials said. “The main contributor to the losses of the general insurance business is the motor business. Steps have been […]

May 14, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank group said net profits in the March 2012 quarter rose 19 percent to 720 million rupees, helped by strong foreign exchange income, interim accounts showed. The group reported earnings of 4. 39 rupees for the quarter. Group return on equity was 16.8 percent up from 15.64 […]

May 14, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon, the island’s largest private lender in terms said group profits in the March 2012 quarter rose 38 percent to 2.8 billion rupees, helped by foreign exchange gains. The bank reported earnings of 3. 42 rupees per share for the quarter. The stock closed at […]

May 13, 2012 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s PABC Bank was flat at 196 million rupees in the March 2012 quarter as interest margins narrowed and personnel expenses spiked, interim accounts showed. The bank reported earnings of 67 cents per share for the quarter. The stock closed at 18.90 rupees down 40 cents Friday. […]

May 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank group said net profits for the March 2012 quarter rose 8 percent from a year earlier to 405 million rupees, as margins narrowed amid rising interest rates. The group reported earnings of 1. 76 for the quarter. The stock closed at 48.80 down 10 cents […]

May 10, 2012 (LBO) – Priyantha Fernando, a retired deputy governor of Sri Lanka’s central bank has been appointed a director of Commercial Leasing and Finance Ltd, a unit of listed Lanka Orix Leasing group. The firm said Fernando has 35-years of experience and has been charge of financial system stability and was also an […]

May 3, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned Bank of Ceylon is to increase its network of overseas branches following a sharp increase in profits of two existing units in neighbouring south India and the Maldives. The bank, the island’s biggest lender, is to open two new branches in the south Indian cities of Tuticorin […]

May 02, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Union Bank group’s net profits for the March 2012 quarter were up 21. 8 percent from a year earlier, helped by stronger interest and foreign exchange income, interim accounts showed. But Union Bank said its gross non-performing loans (without interest in suspense) fell to 4.6 percent from 5.51 […]

April 30, 2012 (LBO) — Fitch Ratings Lanka on Monday affirmed HNB Assurance PLC’s national insurer financial strength rating and national long-term rating at ‘A(lka)’. The Outlook is Stable. A unit of the privately-held Hatton National Bank (HNB), HNB Assurance’s ratings reflects its capitalisation in terms of regulatory solvency and Fitch’s risk-based capital computations. The […]

Apr 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run National Savings Bank has bought a 13 percent stake in The Finance Company, a troubled firm that is being bailed out by regulators, at a steep premium above market price. NSB has bought 7.863 million shares of The Finance at 49. 74 rupees in an off-market deal […]

Apr 27, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon has sold a 500 million dollar 5-year bond to yield 6. 875 percent a year with the investors oversubscribing the issue 7.7 times, sources familiar with the matter said. Books were initially opened with a price guidance of 7. 1 percent but the price […]

Apr 27, 2012 (LBO) – A successful 500 million US dollar bond sale by state-run Bank of Ceylon showed investor confidence and broadened access to international capital, chairman Gamini Wickramasinghe said. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi and HSBC managed the bond. It was rated ‘B1’ by Moody’s and ‘BB-‘ by Fitch. The bond issuance […]