Category: Industry
Different Strokes
April 18, 2007 (LBO) – Fledgling Islamic insurer, Amana Takaful Insurance (ATI), which was listed on the second board of the Colombo bourse last November, has reported a 57 percent growth in premium collections it the audited accounts for 2006. The company’s shares last traded at 31.50 at the close of market in April though […]
Merchant Rating
April 18, 2007 (LBO) – Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka, a listed subsidiary of the state-owned Bank of Ceylon, has received a AA3 rating for its proposed 600 million-rupee debenture, Lanka Rating Agency (LRA) said Wednesday. LRA says MBSL’s growth is capped by its funding. “The rating of the proposed debt issue is similar to […]
Price Pressure
April 18, 2007 (LBO) – The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) which lost 1.5 billion rupees in 2006 is seeking a price hike to ward off an 800 million rupee loss by April, but the government is only permitting half the increase sought by the utility. Funds were also needed lay a new pipeline from Muthurajawela […]
Trishaw Finance
April 18, 2007 (LBO) – A small Sri Lankan finance company to which specializes in funding three-wheeled auto-rickshaws is showing high profitability, Fitch Ratings which assigned the firm a BB+ (lka) rating said Wednesday. About 95 percent of the assets of Trade Finance and Investments (TFI) in the 9-months ending December 2006 was in three-wheeler […]
Cup Semi-finalists are on board
RIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 16, 2007 (AFP) – Results and standings in the Super Eights of the 2007 World Cup on Tuesday: At Bridgetown, Barbados South Africa bt England by 9 wkts Super Eights standings (played, won, lost, tied, no-result, run-rate, points): Australia 6 6 0 0 0 +2.03 12.0 – qualified for semi-finals New Zealand […]
Squeezed Through
April 18, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka Wednesday confirmed Ceylease Financial Services Ltd’s (CFS) national long-term rating at ‘BBB-(lka)’ with a stable outlook, despite worsening solvency.Fitch says there is implied support from state-owned Bank of Ceylon, rated AA (lka), which owns 50 percent of the company. At the end of the 2006 financial year […]
‘ tag, says Smith
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 18, 2007 (AFP) – South Africa captain Graeme Smith believes his team have finally buried their chokers’ tag after storming into the World Cup semi-finals. The Proteas raced to a nine-wicket victory over England here on Tuesday to join defending champions Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in the semi-finals. Australia lead […]
‘ should walk the plank, British press say
LONDON, April 18, 2007 (AFP) – England cricket coach Duncan Fletcher should be sacked after England were dominated by South Africa in Bridgetown, Barbados, ending their hopes of making it to the World Cup semi-finals, much of the British press said on Wednesday.South Africa dismissed England for a paltry 154 before racing to the target […]
Willis calls for Vaughan axe
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 18, 2007 (AFP) – Former England captain Bob Willis demanded Michael Vaughan be axed as skipper following the team’s World Cup exit.Willis, now a TV pundit, said coach Duncan Fletcher and chairman of selectors David Graveney should also be removed from their postitions after South Africa’s thumping nine-wicket win condemned Vaughan’s men […]
Sarwan emerges front-runner for West Indies captaincy
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 18, 2007 (AFP) – Middle-order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan is all set to be named as the West Indies captain for their next month’s tour of England replacing the under-fire Brian Lara.The enigmatic Lara is likely to face the axe after West Indies’ unimpressive World Cup performance which saw them losing four of […]
Sri Lanka tourism downturn delays Rs500mn Serendib re-branding
April 17, 2007 (LBO) – A downturn in tourism triggered by escalating violence has forced Serendib Hotels to put off plans to re-brand three hotels with a foreign leisure group, its holding company Hemas said. The mass market is still coming and our Dolphin hotel is doing well. Hotel Serendib, Bentota, controlled by the public-listed […]
Under-strength Sri Lanka lose to Australia by 7-wickets
ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, April 16, 2007 (AFP) – Australia captain Ricky Ponting scored an unbeaten 66 as the champions stretched their unbeaten run at the World Cup to 26 games and 20 consecutive wins with a seven-wicket Super Eights victory against an under-strength Sri Lanka here Monday. Australia had a minor wobble when occasional off-spinner […]