Preparing for CHOGM?
Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa examines rubber face masks on display at the 6th Annual Rubber Conference of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) which was held in Colombo last week. (Picture courtesy the Ministry).
Central Bank dollar investments safe as US government crisis ends
Sri Lanka’s Central Bank and other central banks in the region, heavily exposed to US treasury bonds, heaved a sigh of relief on Friday after an 18-day partial US government shutdown ended. “We were all nerves,” noted a worried Central Bank (CB) official, saying the CB and other central banks have massive investments in US [...]
Sri Lanka’s Neil Marine builds boats for Britain
Combining 44 years of experience with latest and modern technology, a Sri Lankan boat builder, one of the biggest players in South Asia is making boats for Britain to penetrate the Asian and European markets in a big way, officials of the company said. Neil Fernando and Co. (Pvt) Ltd (Neil Marine) founded by Neil [...]
Elusive Maloney’s still have Lankan assets
Are Sri Lankan authorities looking for the elusive Maloney business couple to question them in connection with the crisis at forestry management company, Touchwood? The couple which has similar investments in Cambodia and Vietnam is yet to show up – after being asked to – before the Colombo-based Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an [...]
Attempt to sell luxury apartment by former GK director revealed
Attempts to sell a penthouse at the Trillium apartment complex belonging to a former director of the once, collapsed Golden Key (GK) company, Ms Padmini Karunanayake were this week disclosed to the Business Times by residents. This apartment said to be worth around Rs.300 million was being offered at a meager price of Rs. 50 [...]
NDB, DFCC aim to borrow $500 million
National Development Bank and DFCC Bank are planning to raise US $250 million each in foreign borrowings with the foreign exchange risk to be borne by the Treasury, a senior Finance Ministry official said A decision has been taken by the government to absorb the foreign exchange risk exposure of commercial banks. In the last [...]
Private sector pension fund among budget proposals from regional SMEs
The regional chambers of commerce in Sri Lanka have responded to a call in August from the Ministry of Finance and Planning for budget proposals from the various stakeholders. The budget is to be presented on November 21 by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a few days after the conclusion of the historic Commonwealth Heads of Government [...]
Hidden clout of small enterprises
In recent years, there has been remarkable progress in the creation and success of regional chambers of commerce and industry across Sri Lanka. These chambers represent a range of small and medium scale businesses from small shops, carpentry units, bakeries, beauty salons to fishing ventures, and many more sectors. If not for the tsunami of [...]
CEAT Sri Lanka conceptualises path-breaking adventure TV ad-film
From humble beginnings of brainstorming under a mango tree to white water rafting, trekking across mountain ranges to scale heights and discover unchartered clearings in the forest and camping under the stars, CEAT Sri Lanka’s epic adventure TV ad-film, conceived and executed by BBDO Lanka, is a truly off the beaten path exploration of Sri [...]
Dell sustains position as No.1 PC Vendor in Sri Lanka
Dell has once again topped the list as the No.1 PC vendor in Sri Lanka for the second quarter of 2013 as reported by the International Data Corporation (IDC), the company said this week. Dell increased its market share to 34.6 per cent of the overall PC market in the country from 29.2 percent in [...]
Are chairmen of state corporations of a higher breed than ordinary civilians?
I had some work to do at the Lanka Cement office which is housed in the State Engineering Corporation building at Ramanayake Mawatha (opposite Bishops College) in Colombo. I proceeded to the 7th floor office and having completed my business took the public lift to the ground floor. It stopped on the 6th floor and [...]
CIFL depositors blame Central Bank (CB)’s professional negligence for finance company collapse
Given the recent bleak record of several Sri Lankan unregistered finance companies and a few registered companies including the CIFL (Central Investments and Finance Ltd), in Sri Lanka, public confidence in the Central Bank as the regulator is eroding fast, depositors alleged. Sameera Abhayawardena of the CIFL Depositors Association on behalf of all depositors revealed [...]
CIFL crisis: Please Mr. President help us
Central Investment & Finance Co. Plc (CIFL) has stopped interest payments to all its fixed depositors with effect from July. Many depositors are senior citizens who have invested their Provident Fund and other meagre savings for payment of a monthly inteest to eke out their living. Almost all depositors who have invested for monthly interest [...]
KANDYGS, a top handloom exporter wins NCE recognition
Sri Lanka’s experienced handloom exporter KANDYGS added to its previous impressive achievements by winning three big awards at the NCE export Awards ceremony held recently. Co-founder Sita Yahampath was recognized with a Gold award for Best Woman Exporter 2012. Previously, Ms. Yahampath has won a Presidential Export award for outstanding export performance, the Priyadharshani Award [...]
Touchwood appoints advisor to the board
Tivanka Ekaratne has been appointed as the Legal Consultant and an advisor to the board of Touchwood Investments. Mr. Ekaratne who hails from a family with a legal background is a past pupil of Royal College, Colombo and a Senior Partner of Ekaratne Associates. He possesses a Masters degree in International Trade Law from University [...]
Plight of Okanda Finance depositors
I am writing this letter with much disappointment for my children have lost a lot of their hard earned money after investing in Okanda Finance Pvt. Ltd expecting it to be a reliable finance company. Okanda Finance Plc terminated payments of interest and investments of the depositors from November 2009 subsequent to a high officer [...]
Late K. Shanmugalingam’s great contribution to export development
The purpose of this write up is to highlight the significant contribution to export development made by K. Shanmugalingam, former Deputy Treasury Secretary, who passed away recently. He was deeply committed to the improvement of the economy of this country; he was a true patriot. When this writer joined the Export Development Board (EDB) in [...]
Automated rubber tapping to overcome labour shortage in rubber plantations
Natural rubber producers find it difficult to find tappers amidst issues where the younger generation is not keen on rubber tapping as a vocation but there is good news on the horizon. The Malaysian rubber industry has come up with automated rubber tapping, revealed the Malaysian delegate at the 6th Annual Rubber Conference of the [...]
Kapila Jayawardena, new Non-Executive Director at Seylan Bank
Kapila Jayawardena, an experienced banker turned financial services specialist, has been appointed a non-Executive Director of Seylan Bank. The appointment is effective from August 1 and follows the vacancy created by the resignation of Ajith L. Devasurendra from the board. Mr. Jayawardena holds an MBA in Financial Management and is a Fellow Member of the [...]
“Choice”, Al-Falaah’s Annual Report for 2011/12 wins global annual reports award
Al-Falaah, the Islamic Business Unit (IBU) of Lanka ORIX Finance PLC (LOFC), has scored a double Gold at the popular international annual report competition, the ARC International Awards (ARC) and the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP) Vision Awards. Al-Falaah won the accolades for its Annual Review for 2011/2012 tilted “Choice”. In addition to the [...]
Arthur C Clark Institute organises discussion on ‘Space Technology Applications for National Development’
Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT), in a bid to educate CEOs on the enormous potential that space technology offers, is organising a one-day CEOs’ forum on the applications of space technology towards national development on October 21 at the Galadari Hotel. The CEO’s forum aims to create awareness about space technologies whilst [...]
Sri Lankan publisher meets World President of Publishers
Vijitha Yapa, President of the Sri Lanka Book Publishers Association, recently met the President of the International Publishers Association, Youngsuk ‘YS’ Chi at the annual general meeting of the association held in Frankfurt, Germany. The latter was given a briefing of the activities of the publishers in Sri Lanka, and the recently concluded Colombo International [...]
New company launched to boost productivity of SMEs
A-range, a service provider which says it is committed to helping Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) identify clear and effective means of organising their business resources and operations, has been launched in Sri Lanka. The company specialises in servicing Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) that wish to effectively increase productivity and market reach. Ambitious entrepreneurs [...]
SL life insurance segment to maintain ‘strong competitive footing’ : RAM
While Sri Lanka’s general insurance segment continues to come under pressure due to competitive forces, a consequence of the short-term nature of this segment’s insurance policies, the area of life insurance will maintain its “strong competitive footing”because of its long-term nature, according to the local unit of Malaysia-based ratings agency RAM. RAM’s comments about the [...]
PCH Holdings says decline in revenue owing to not selling subsidiary firms
Not selling any major stake in the companies under PCH Holdings has declined its revenue, according to Chairman S. H. M. Rishan. “Our management system and style, along with our socially responsible use of the stakeholder model of corporate governance, has worked in the past, but we have learnt from global and local challenges, and [...]
US$10 mln worth foreign firms to be allocated a separate board on CSE
Foreign firms worth more than US$ 10 million would be encouraged to go public on a separate board on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) with certain trading restrictions, officials said. “We are trying to get a new board for companies with a BOI (Board of Investment) status with a size of $10 million,” Securities and [...]
Cargills has 45% share in food retail sector
The Cargills chain of supermarkets currently has a market share of about 40-45 per cent in the local organised food retail sector and slightly less than 7 per cent of the estimated total grocery spend, according to a research report by the Colombo Stock xchange in association with Amba Research. It says that the rapid [...]
High costs lead to low demand in property market : Analysts
While Sri Lankan property market is expected to thrive in the medium to long term with aspiring economic and infrastructure development in the country, analysts say that the high interest rates, construction costs, weakened local currency and adverse taximposition on foreign expatriates on real estate in recent times have led the property market to witness [...]
CSE announcements
Sampath Bank Plc will be taking steps to issue 25,000,000 debentures with an option to issue up to a further 25,000,000 debentures in the event of over subscription, at a par value of Rs. 100 subject to the necessary regulatory approvals. The bank hopes to have these Debentures quoted on the First Board of the [...]
Browns Ragama Hospital expansion and refurbishment by end Oct.
Browns Healthcare, a unit of Browns which acquired private hospital, St. Peters hospital Ragama late last year will start its expansion and refurbishment by the end of October this year, officials said. “We are planning to open the fully fledged hospital by July/August next year. We want to refurbish it into a fully-fledged multi speciality [...]
Smart phones catch the eye of Sri Lankan youth
Smart phones are penetrating the mobile hand set market in Sri Lanka in a big way as it has already attracted the IT savvy youth in the island, mobile phone market sources said. Smart phones have an operating system which can run many applications, similar to a small computer, while remaining connected to the Internet [...]
Aitken Spence boosts Fiji Port efficiencies by 35% in two months
Aitken Spence’s public-private partnership with the Fiji Ports Corporation to oversee the operation of Suva and Lautoka ports, the largest in Fiji, has seen an increase in its efficiencies by 35 per cent within two months. Marking the first- ever public-private partnership overseas by a Sri Lankan company recorded to-date; diversified blue-chip Aitken Spence bought [...]
Lankan industry’s electricity costs up 18% – apparel exporters chief
Recent electricity tariff increases have led to an additional cost of electricity of between 17 per cent and 18 per cent for apparel manufacturers, according to Yohan Lawrence, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA). Speaking at the recently concluded SLAEA Annual General Meeting (AGM), the organisation’s 31st, Mr. Lawrence also commented on [...]
TGIF – a place to forget traffic jams
When Cargills got in touch with Thank God Its Friday (TGIF) in May last year, it didn’t expect to strike a partnership with this global chain so quickly and open a restaurant by this year. “In May 2012 we recognised that the Sri Lankan market was growing. Then things such as CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of [...]
SL’s 2.5 mln tourist goal ‘not ambitious enough’ – IMF Rep
Sri Lanka’s goal of 2.5 million tourist arrivals by 2016 is ‘not ambitious enough’ considering the intake of countries such as the Maldives (1 million), Cambodia (6-7 million), Thailand (15 million) and Malaysia (25 million), according to the country’s IF Resident Representative Dr. Koshy Mathai. Further, he also added that this sector had a critical [...]
Sri Lanka shortlisted for Offshoring Destination of the Year Award by the National Outsourcing Association (UK)
US-based National Association for Outsourcing (NOA) has shortlisted Sri Lanka for its Offshoring Destination of the Year Award. This award is to be delivered during its prestigious award ceremony – The National Outsourcing Association Awards (NOAAs) 2013 on October 24 in London, it was announced in Colombo. Expressing his views on Sri Lanka’s Short listing [...]
Advanced Packing Material manufacturer for coconut substrates wins ISO certification
Pack World (Pvt) Ltd, one of Sri Lanka’s advanced packing material manufacturers for coconut substrates, was recently awarded the ISO 9001:2008 certification for its quality management system. The company received the award from Ascent Lanka, Lead Auditors providing consultation services to ACS Registrars Ltd of the United Kingdom. A media release said Pack World which [...]
Nutrition awareness for children via Nestle scheme
The Nestle Healthy Kids Programme is a global initiative by Nestle to raise awareness of the importance of good nutrition and an active lifestyle among school-age children around the world, launched in 2009 and by 2012 has reached 5.4 million children all over the world. This programme was incorporated into the Government’s island wide Nutrition [...]
Commonwealth Summit in Sri Lanka to be ‘captured’ by GlobeCast
GlobeCast – the global content management and Distribution Company has been given the contract by the Sri Lankan government to design, build and operate the television transmission for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka next month, a senior state official said. GlobeCast, a subsidiary of France Telecom, manages [...]
AGM of the CNCI chamber
The 52nd AGM of the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) was held in Colombo last week. The chief guest at the event was the Secretary to the Ministry of Industry & commerce Anura Siriwardena who emphasized the various positive methods adopte by the respective local industries in many developed countries in order to [...]
Jetwing Yala hotel will be ready by Friday
Jetwing Yala luxury hotel owned by Jetwing subsidiary, Jetwing Symphony will be ready by next week, Jetwing Hotels Chairman Hiran Cooray said. “Spread across 38 acres of land, Jetwing Yala cost Rs. 1.5 billion on construction alone, without land value,” he told the Business Times, adding that they are slated to open on October 25th. [...]
Brand, the most valuable asset of any business, says SLIM founder member
Brand plays an important role in the success of a business, said Lalith De Mel, founder member and past president of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) at the 12th SLIM Brand Excellence Awards held at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre (SLECC) last Wednesday. Mr. De Mel graced the occasion as the [...]
EFC joins ‘WorkInSriLanka’ brain gain initiative
The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon recently signed a MoU with the WorkInSriLanka organisation, saying it was well aware of the increasingly difficult task many companies have in finding and retaining top talent in Sri Lanka. “Sri Lanka needs knowledge workers. It is time that we move out from marketing ‘cheap labour’ and penetrate into the [...]
Bank of Ceylon offers Rs 8 bln in debentures
Bank of Ceylon (BOC), the largest bank in Sri Lanka, announced the subscription list of its debenture issue – 2013 which will be opened tomorrow. The unsecured, subordinated, redeemable debentures have maturity periods in the range of 5 to 10 years 60. “Debentures have been rated at AA (Lka) by Fitch Ratings (Lanka) Ltd., evidencing [...]
Well done President CA Sri Lanka!
It has been reported that Sri Lanka Financial Reporting Standards (SLFRS) 10, 11 and 12 will be implemented, as much earlier agreed, from January 2014. These provisions relate to ‘consolidation of group accounts’ and ‘disclosure of interests in other entities’ to fall more in line with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). As disgustingly usual, lobbying [...]
