Category: Banking and Finance

May 09, 2011 (LBO) – Mercantile Investments Limited (MIL), a registered finance company in Sri Lanka, has been given regulatory approval to list on the Colombo stock exchange. The firm is to list 3,006,000 ordinary voting shares on the CSE’s ‘Diri Savi’ second board through the ‘introduction’ process which does not require companies to make […]

May 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank said it plans to raise at least 15.07 billion rupees through a rights issue and private placement to strengthen its capital and balance sheet and to support growth. It intends to raise 10.5 billion rupees from the rights issue of one share for every six […]

May 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank said recipients of remittances through its e-Exchange facility will get SMS alerts when their accounts are credited. All recipients who have mobile connections from any mobile operator in Sri Lanka will be eligible to receive these alerts as and when a remittance is received, 24-hours-a-day, seven […]

Apr 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank group profits rose 63.8 percent to 980 million rupees in the March 2011 quarter, helped by provisional reversals and other income despite an easing of net interest income, interim accounts showed. The group reported earnings per share of 6.41 rupees for the quarter. Interest income fell […]

Apr 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank group net profits in the March 2011 quarter rose 27 percent to 195 million rupees from a year earlier, helped by loan loss provision reversals and steady margins on its fund book, interim accounts showed. The bank reported earnings per share of 3. 93 rupees for […]

Apr 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s banking regulator has imposed limits on commercial bank exposure to the stock market which has been among Asia’s top performing bourses in the last two years. New guidelines issued by the central bank limits bank lending to buy stocks to less than 05 percent of total loans, with […]

Apr 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Bank said March 2011 quarter net profit shot up 190 percent to 196 million rupees from a year ago with sharp gains in both interest and non-interest income. Earnings per share for the quarter went up to 1.33 rupees from 0.61 rupees, according to interim results […]

Apr 28, 2011 (LBO) – India’s Axis Bank has been given preliminary approval to set up a unit in Sri Lanka, with a formal license to be given after the bank meets regulatory requirements, an official said. State Bank of India and Indian Bank already have branches in Sri Lanka. Indian Bank has been expanding […]

Apr 27, 2011 (LBO) – Commercial Credit Ltd. , a registered finance company based in Sri Lanka’s central hill town of Kandy, has been given regulatory approval to list on the stock exchange. The Colombo stock exchange said it has approved the finance comapny’s application to list 218,074,365 ordinary shares on its ‘diri savi’ or […]

Apr 26, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Amana Bank has signed a deal with Malaysia’s Bank Islam, which is a shareholder, to get Islamic banking expertise. A company statement said that under the Technical Advisory Service Agreement, Bank Islam will play a “significant role” in transferring Islamic banking expertise to Amana Bank. Bank Islam has […]

Apr 25, 2011 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has assigned long- and short-term financial institution ratings of BB and NP to Bimputh Lanka Investment (BLI) with the long-term rating carrying a stable outlook. “The ratings are supported by the company’s good asset quality, healthy funding mix and strong capital cushioning,” the rating agency said in […]

Apr 24, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s banks loaned 40.6 billion rupees to business in February pushing loan growth to 29. 7 percent from a year earlier, while the credit to the state including printed money spiked by 41 billion rupees, amid rising inflation. Printed money is immediately disbursed to the economy by the state, […]