Category: Industry
Firm Hand
Oct 28 (LBO) – Rating agency Fitch Lanka affirmed DFCC Vardhana Bank’s AA-(lka) national long term rating on Friday, on the strength of parent company DFCC Bank. The principal factor supporting the rating of DFCC Vardhana Bank (DVB) is the strong implied support assumed to be available from its parent, DFCC Bank, Fitch Ratings Lanka […]
Stellar Performance
July 27, 2006 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka’s largest cellular phone operator, Thursday posted a 47 percent rise in net profits for the nine months to September, as subscriber growth lifted revenues. A unit of Telekom Malaysia, Dialog Telekom, reported a 7.55 billion rupee group net profit, while revenues climbed 47 percent to 18.89 […]
Non-Negotiable
Oct 26, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka™s trade ministry has shot down efforts by local businessmen to get desiccated coconut off India™s protected list, to avoid a political battle with the island™s largest trading partner. Desiccated coconut is on a preferential trading list which gives Sri Lankan exports to India a preferential duty of 57 […]
Major Update
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 24, 2006 (AFP) – Mozilla on Tuesday released a new version of its Firefox web browser that has gained popularity as a free alternative to Microsoft’s ubiquitous Internet Explorer software.In the two years since its release by the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, the Firefox browser has won millions of devotees worldwide. The Firefox […]
BPO Ponzi
October 25, 2006 (LBO) – A Ponzi-style fraud that was masquerading as an internet based outsourcing company, shut up shop Wednesday, leaving thousands of Sri Lankan defrauded of millions of rupees. Mt. Lavinia police said the operators, who ran a company called Seagullsoftwares have fled the office and they had no idea how many people […]
Affordable Rides
October 25, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Wednesday cut retail fuel prices, to ease living costs and inflationary pressures, though the treasury still owes the state petroleum giant over 13 billion rupees. With effective midnight, petrol at the pump will be priced 5.00 rupees less at 92.00 rupees, and diesel goes down 2.00 rupees to […]
Bigger Say
October 25, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s conglomerate John Keells Holdings Ltd Wednesday said it has raised its ownership in port operator South Asia Gateway Terminals (Pvt) Ltd to 33.75 percent. “The success of SAGT further proves the ability of Sri Lankan companies to develop and add value to large scale infrastructure projects,” Ratnayake added. […]
Child™s Play
October 23, 2006 (LBO) – The Ceylinco Consolidated Group™s 3-billion rupee state-of-the-art women and children hospital is due to open in March 2008. The privately owned Golden Key Hospital for Women and Children, aims to offer pediatric, maternity and gynecological services. Built on a land in Narahenpita, the 200 bed hospital hopes to be fully […]
Jumbo Sizes
Oct 23, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to expand and re-surface its runway to handle jumbo sized A380 airbus aircraft, capitalising on delays that have pushed back release of the new super-sized planes to 2009. Part of Emirates plans also includes new aircraft possibly 777-300s or A340s for Sri Lankan Airlines, though beefing up […]
Holidaymakers sanguine but hoteliers worry after attack in Southern Sri Lanka
GALLE, Sri Lanka, Oct 22(AFP) – Holidaymakers on the beaches around Sri Lanka’s southern port of Galle seemed unconcerned about last week’s Tamil Tiger suicide attack here, but industry professionals are shaking their heads.The three decades of ethnic bloodshed in the island nation have claimed more than 60,000 lives. One day after five Tiger rebel […]
‘s Murali, Mahela in ICC award shortlist
MUMBAI, Oct 22 (AFP) – Pakistani paceman Mohammad Asif has been shortlisted for an ICC award despite testing positive for a banned substance, it was announced here on Sunday. “Asif is eligible for the award as the period under consideration was before the doping offence,” said Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the International Cricket Council […]
Happy Texting
SINGAPORE, Oct 22, 2006 (AFP) – Text messaging remains the most dominant mode of mobile data communication, as high costs and cumbersome procedures keep customers from fully embracing fancier applications, industry players say.As revenue from voice service narrows, mobile operators are hard pressed to find a key new application that will continue generating cash like […]