Category: Banking and Finance

June 12, 2007 (LBO) – A controlling stake in the listed financial firm, Asia Capital was bought by a consortium led by Asia Fort Asset Managment, with two foreign funds selling out Tuesday, an official said. Two foreign funds, Rockport and Sezeka sold out with a consortium led by Asia Fort Asset Management buying the […]

June 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should widen its tax base and practice fiscal discipline instead of heavily taxing a few sectors like the financial sector, and have a formal taxation commission to devise a medium-term tax policy, a top bank has said. While Sri Lanka’s tax collections as a percentage of gross domestic […]

June 8, 2007 (LBO) – The cellular operator Mobitel has raised five billion rupees through a syndicated loan to fund its expansion into rural Sri Lanka, officials said. The 8-year loan was syndicated by HSBC Sri Lanka. Bank of Ceylon, Peoples’ Bank, Hatton National Bank and HSBC itself brought in a billion rupees each while […]

June 7, 2007 (LBO) – DFCC Bank has been asked to cut its 28.98 percent stake in Commercial Bank to 15 percent under Sri Lanka’s banking laws, the development financier said. Commercial Bank of Ceylon has informed DFCC Bank that if the stake was not cut by October 23, 2008, DFCC its voting rights would […]

June 5, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has upgraded PABC Bank, a Sri Lankan commercial bank to an investment grade BBB- (lka) with the stable outlook, the agency said Tuesday. “The upgrade of the rating recognises improvements in PABC’s profitability and relative improvements in its capitalisation ratios and asset quality since the bank was first […]

June 01, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s insurance policy lapse rate is far too high and might mean the industry’s sales pitch is overenthusiastic, an international expert told a gathering of industry professionals in Colombo. Rudy Verrilli, consultant to the Life Insurance and Market Research Association (LIMRA) stressed the importance of “ethical selling” and of […]

May 25, 2007 (LBO) – Janashakthi Insurance Co. Ltd, says general insurance premiums grew 37 percent in the first quarter with motor insurance growing 40 percent. The general insurance has grossed 1,028 million rupees, which was up 277 million for the March quarter. Gross written premium of the life side has also grown 27 percent. […]

May 23, 2007 (LBO) – National Development Bank has reported group after-tax profits in the first quarter ending in March 2007 was 299 million rupees, a drop of 77 percent mainly because profit in the same quarter last year had been inflated by a share sale. NDB Bank posted a 1.3 billion rupee profit after […]

May 23, 2007 (LBO) – A presidential commission appointed to probe failed finance companies is calling for members of the public to contact the commission before the end of May. “The Commission after perusal of such representations may invite any individual or organization for further discussion and/or to testify before the Commission,” the commission said […]

May 23, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank says it has strengthened action against pyramid schemes and not halted or scaled down investigations in the recent past. “The Central Bank wishes to inform the public that it has in fact, contrary to such reports, strengthened its action against pyramid schemes,” the Central Bank said […]

May 22, 2007 (LBO) – Consolidated net profits at HDFC Bank, a mortgage lender, grew 35 percent while revenues grew 40 percent for the quarter ending March 2007. HDFC group net profit after tax rose to 113.8 million rupees from 83.9 million in the first quarter this year while total revenue increased to 521 million […]

May 17, 2007 (LBO) – Goldquest kingpin Vijayeswaran Vijayaratnam has financed the operation of at least two Tamil language television stations, the latest in a series of reports since the arrest of top operatives of the cult-like group said. . The Asian Tribune website said Vijayeswaran owned shares in Deepam TV of UK and another […]