Category: Banking and Finance

May 27, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings said it had rated a proposed one billion rupee subordinated debenture ‘AA-(lka)’ by National Development Bank one notch below the bank’s long term ‘AA(lka)’ credit which has a stable outlook. Core profitability as measured by return on assets (adjusted for gains on equities and government securities) had increased […]

May 26, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Multi Finance Company Limited (MFCL) has been rated ‘B+(lka)’, four notches below investment grade, by Fitch with a ‘stable’ outlook. “MFCL’s rating reflects its small size, weak franchise, modest capitalisation and low profitability in its core business,” Fitch Ratings said in a statement. “The rating factors in the […]

May 24, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank wants to raise 9.7 billion rupees through a rights issue that would be followed by a share split to strengthen its capital base for future growth. The bank said in a stock exchange filing that the issue is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. It expects […]

May 23, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s LB Finance said net profits for the March 2011 grew 83 percent to 391 million rupees from a year earlier, with strong growth in lending during the past year and a steep increase in other income, interim accounts showed. Its government securities portfolio rose modestly to 1.6 billion […]

May 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan banks will soon be able to lend against moveable property with a new initiative by the Credit Information Bureau (CRIB), an official said. The CRIB plans to set up a ‘secured transaction registry’ from June 01, 2011 that will enable registration of moveable assets against which banks can […]

May 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank group said March 2011 quarter net profit doubled to 605 million rupees from a year ago as lending and deposits grew and it contained bad loans. Interest income fell two percent to 2.5 billion rupees while interest expenses fell four percent to 1.4 billion rupees […]

May 13, 2011 (LBO) – Bank of Ceylon, Sri Lanka’s biggest state-owned lender, said March 2011 quarter net profit shot up 163. 1 percent to almost 2.2 billion rupees from a year ago with interest income rising much faster than interest costs. Basic earnings per share rose 163.1 percent to 1,749 rupees, the bank’s interim […]

May 11, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank has changed plans to raise fresh capital by dropping a private placement and increasing a rights issue for existing shareholders, a stock exchange filing said. The amount of funds to be raised, to strengthen its capital and balance sheet and to support growth, has been […]

May 10, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Union Bank said net profit rose 212 percent to 60 million rupees in the March 2011 quarter from a year ago with sharp gains in both interest and non-interest income. Interest income rose 7.5 percent to 458 million rupees while interest expenses fell 22 percent to 221 million […]

May 10, 2011 (LBO) – ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, has tied up with Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank to launch an online cross-border money transfer facility. The ‘Money2SriLanka’ facility (‘M2SL’) is a web-based online remittance platform which facilitates the sending of remittances from abroad to beneficiaries in Sri Lanka, a statement said. This […]

May 10, 2011 (LBO) – Bimputh Lanka Investments, a registered finance company in Sri Lanka, has been given regulatory approval to list on the Colombo stock exchange. The firm is to list 20.2 million ordinary voting shares on the CSE’s ‘Diri Savi’ second board through the ‘introduction’ process which does not require companies to make […]

May 09, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Union Bank, which became a retail investor favourite after its recent listing, intends to go into new lines of business and add more branches as part of an expansion plan. “The bank expects this unique facility will enable to expand its network to the grass-root levels efficiently and […]