Category: Banking and Finance

Feb 09, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank has appointed Tilan Wijeyesekera an industry veteran with experience in financial services and consumer goods, to head its marketing and business development. Wijeyesekera has been at Lanka Milk Foods as general manager – marketing, head of marketing at Janashakthi Insurance, marketing business development manager at Elephant […]

Feb 03, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s SMB Leasing (SMBL) and Lanka Ashok Leyland (LAL) have begun importing luxury tourist coaches amid a boom in tourist arrivals and a shortage of vehicles, a statement said. Leasing facilities have been provided by SMBL to the buyer of the first three imported luxury LAL tourist coaches. The […]

Feb 03, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has upgraded Vallibel Finance’s (VFL) rating to ‘BB-(lka)’ from ‘B+(lka)’ with a stable outlook, a statement said. “The upgrade of VFL’s rating reflects sustained improvements in its credit metrics – in particular its asset quality, profitability and capitalisation,” Fitch said. It also reflects VFL’s increased scale of […]

Feb 03, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s The Finance Company, being restructured under regulatory supervision, has managed to reduce losses in the December 2010 quarter but interest costs are still higher than income, a stock exchange filing showed. Net interest income fell 42 percent to 159.3 million rupees, with interest income down 29.6 percent to […]

Feb 02, 2011 (LBO) – The Colombo Stock Exchange has approved a public share offer by Sri Lanka’s Union Bank to raise 375 million rupees by issuing 15 million ordinary shares at 25 rupees each, a statement said. CSE has approved in principal the application for listing on the main board of the bourse. The […]

Feb 02, 2011 (LBO) – The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has given a commercial banking license to Amana Bank, a statement said. Islamic banking is an emerging alternative to the interest-based banking practice and is gaining popularity across the world’s communities. “Amana Bank will be Sri Lanka’s first licensed commercial […]

Feb 02, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Fitch Ratings has today confirmed Sri Lanka’s People’s Leasing Company’s long term rating of ‘A(lka)’ with a stable outlook on its potential support from its parent, state-run People’s Bank which is rated ‘AA-(lka)’. Fitch said PLC carries out the incremental leasing business of People’s Bank’s leasing business which […]

Feb 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Leasing Finance (PLF), a unit of Peoples Leasing Company by one notch to ‘BBB(lka)’ with a stable outlook, on expected support from its ‘A(lka)’ parent which owns 93 percent of the firm. Fitch said support from the parent was now “more likely” than in the past as […]

Feb 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) Ltd has been rated ‘A’ by Ram Ratings on its strong market position and balance sheet against its dependency on the cyclicality of construction and government price controls. The long term rating has a ‘stable’ outlook. The firm’s short term credit has been rate […]

Jan 31, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Merchant Bank will not take over the assets and liabilities of a finance company whose shares it has acquired but will keep it separate and list in the stock market. PMB, a listed company said in a stock exchange filing that the decision was taken following instructions […]

Jan 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s listed The Finance Company, which is in a restructuring drive under regulatory supervision said it had raised 1. 6 billion from a share sale which had been oversubscribed. The Finance Company, earlier managed by the Ceylinco group offered 40 million shares at 40 rupees to raise capital. Depositors […]

Jan 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank said it intended to give stock options of up to three million shares to employees as a performance incentive if the bank reaches as yet undisclosed performance for 2011. The shares issued under the option plan would be 2.0 percent of the existing shares and will […]