Category: Banking and Finance

Sept 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank said the long term credit rating of its Bangladesh unit had been upgraded by one notch to AA+ from AA, by Credit Rating Information and Services Ltd (CRISIL). CRISIL had given it a ST-1 short term rating. Commercial Bank of Ceylon had bought Credit Agricole lndosuez […]

Sept 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Union Bank has reported strong loan growth in the six months ending June 30, bucking the industry trend, although net profit fell marginally, according to published results and a bank statement. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Performing […]

Sept 03, 2008 (LBO) – Asia continued to do well amidst global financial turmoil and Sri Lanka and the Maldives are set to perform well, despite an expected slowdown, a top HSBC official said. In Sri Lanka the bank has also been providing aggressively and has also become more cautious in its credit card business, […]

Sept 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s RAM Ratings says it has confirmed the ‘BBB’ national long term rating of Alliance Finance with a ‘stable’ outlook and also confirmed its ‘P2’ short term rating. “The ratings are supported by the company’s adequate asset quality and the resultant augmentation in its capital adequacy,” RAM Ratings said […]

Sept 02, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings says the underlying risks of Sri Lanka’s specialised leasing company sector have increased owing to high inflation and rising interest rates. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 While the larger firms are relatively more resilient to a continued […]

Sept 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HSBC will chase expatriate Sri Lankan customers through its overseas network banking on newly liberalized foreign deposit rules, a top official said.“We want to attract Sri Lanka diaspora in countries where we have branches and get deposits and remittances,” Nick Nicolaou, head of HSBC in Sri Lanka and […]

Sept 01, 2008 (LBO) – A former senior general manager of Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Harris Premaratne will head Sampath Bank, with the retirement of the current chief executive, the firm said in a stock exchange filing. Current chief executive Anil Amarasuriya will continue till December 2008 with Premaratne assuming duties as chief executive officer […]

Aug 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Standard Chartered Bank (SCBSL) branch has been given a AAA(lka) rating with a ‘stable’ outlook, Fitch Ratings said. Fitch said the rating reflected the financial strength of Standard Chartered A+ international rating which is higher than the B+ sovereign foreign currency rating of Sri Lanka. Fitch said the […]

Aug 28, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka said it had downgraded the national long term rating of First Capital Treasuries, a primary dealer in government securities, to ‘A- (lka)’ from ‘A(lka)’ and also withdrawn the rating at the request of the company. “FCT was the only independent primary dealer to have carried a rating […]

Aug 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank (NDB) group net profit for the June 2008 quarter fell 35 percent to 363.5 million rupees, interim accounts filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange showed. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Revenue grew 14 percent […]

Aug 27, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFFC Bank net profit for the June quarter rose 30 percent to 515 million rupees from 395 million rupees a year ago, helped by capital gains from the sale of shares, the bank’s interim results show. Profit for the June quarter included a one-off gain of 108 million […]

Aug 26, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s banks face challenging times with margins being squeezed as interest rates rise, a report by a stock brokerage said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘act (space) lbo’ and send to 678 “The last two quarterly earnings seasons have shown testing times for […]