Tough action urged against pesticide use in fruits: BT-RCB Poll
Sri Lankans in a new BT-RCB poll this week are urging the Government to bring in stiffer penalties and stronger safeguards against the use of pesticides in local and imported fruits which have long term ramifications on the health of individuals. Pesticides in fruits are reflected in the increasing number of cancer cases, gastric problems [...]
Krrish fails another payment deadline; new crisis
The long-delayed Krrish project in Fort has passed yet another deadline – the final 15 per cent payment of US$ 449 million (about Rs. 59 billion) which was due on January 31 – to start construction. Furthermore fresh issues are surfacing. According to authoritative sources, the Urban Development Authority (UDA) is insisting that Delhi-based Krrish [...]
Lankans seek to dress the Chinese
Sri Lanka’s apparel industry is looking towards China this year aimed at finding new brands and increasing chances of promoting garment exports via a new gateway with trade concessions for its existing buyers to the East Asian partner. But reasons for the shift in market focus would also be due to the fact that industries [...]
Hilton stays open; changes earlier plan
Hilton Colombo didn’t close, as planned at the end of 2013, and would stay open while undergoing renovations on a phased out basis set to commence shortly, hotel officials said. Last year the five star property in a public announcement stated that “in keeping with our commitment to deliver quality hospitality experiences to guests in [...]
Tea: Lifeblood of the nation
Dwarfed by stacks of tea, Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe speaks at the opening of a new warehouse complex by Mercantile Produce Brokers Ltd at Wattala last week. Pic by M. A. Puspha Kumara.
JKH hopes casino controversy will fade away
While construction of the US$820 million -worth Beira lakeside development project by John Keells Holdings’ (JKH) is on track, the group is hoping the controversy relating to casinos would be resolved as soon as possible, a company official said. “We have started building the Waterfront project,” he told the Business Times, adding that they are [...]
Jetwing Hotels dominates top 25 Sri Lankan hotels list
The Jetwing hotel chain has found a place in the top 25 Sri Lankan Hotels list, a media release issued by the company stated. Jetwing Hotels is now the largest resort chain in the island with 21 properties within the country. Four Jetwing properties have been listed in the recently published Top 25 Hotels in [...]
Central Bank must take responsibility for debacle of finance companies
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CB) regularly advertises the names of finance companies which are registered with it and are lawfully entitled to solicit deposits from the public. By such advertisements the CB explicitly conveys to the general public that monies deposited with such companies are safe because they are under the supervision and [...]
CB’s ‘rush to merge’ policies
Last year when a well-known finance company crashed, among its top directors was a man who had been convicted abroad and had changed his name and passport. A Central Bank (CB) official, asked how the ‘convict’ was permitted to be a director under ‘fit and proper’ rules in the governance code, said “since he was [...]
Regional energy summit in Colombo this month
The Independent Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI) is organising its third Asia Energy Security Summit on February 26-28 in Colombo. Speakers at the Summit include Hilal Raza, Director, SAARC Energy Centre, Islamabad; Priyantha Wijayatunga, Senior Energy Specialist, Asian Development Bank, Manila; A.R. Samadi, CEO, DABS, Afghanistan; Damitha Kumarasinghe, Director General, Public Utilities Commission of [...]
Who are you at work?
Amongst many circles, increasing our sphere of social awareness would leave us in good stead. We hear about intelligence of all forms and recognise the value of Intelligence Quotient, Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence, in growing into our success at work and in life. The problem is that even though we recognise the importance of [...]
Calamander Group set to develop 5 hotels; eyes shopping mall and int’l F&B brand
The Calamander Group Inc, a Singapore based investment holding company which recently announced expansion plans for its Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf franchise in Sri Lanka, is poised to set up three more hotels, in addition to its beach resort in Unawatuna, oficials said. “We want to build three new hotels which will altogether have [...]
Commercial Bank to broaden its offering in investment banking
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon is expanding its focus on investment banking, with the re-launch and renaming of its Corporate Finance Unit as ‘Commercial Bank Investment Banking’ to reflect the broader dimensions of the unit. The ‘Commercial Bank Investment Banking’ unit will leverage the status of Commercial Bank as the largest private bank in the [...]
86-year-old journalist and his typewriter
Geneva- A seldom-heard noise is emanating from a small cubicle at the far end of Press Room One at the Palace of Nations, the imposing home of the United Nations in Geneva. It’s the sound of metal keys clattering against paper, punctuated frequently by the muted ping of a small steel bell. Gordon Martin, UN [...]
Modern tea warehouse with automated storage and stacking opened in SL
Sri Lanka’s tea sector is gradually moving towards modernity adapting the latest technology coupled with a green environment. The warehouse complex that was installed by Mercantile Produce Brokers (Pvt) Ltd (MPBL) in Enderamulle, Wattala and declared open last week by Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Plantation Industries, is a classic example of that. Naren Dambawinne, Managing [...]
CB evaluating offers to establish Central Counterparty system
The Central Bank (CB) is now examining some15 Expression of Interest (EOI) from eligible organizations/persons in the capacity of a Consultant cum Project Manager to set up a Central Counterparty (CCP) and implement a Clearing & Settlement System for faclitating the transactions in the domestic financial markets, CB officials said. CB together with the Securities [...]
Lanka Hospitals plans regional labs at Rs. 800 mln investment : RAM
Ratings agency RAM recently upgraded the outlook for Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC (LHC), to “positive”, from “stable”, attributable to the “Hospital’s strong financial profile and its improved business position as a result of its prospective foray into the highly lucrative laboratory and diagnostic segments”. Further, RAM also maintained the hospital’s long- and short-term corporate credit [...]
Top HSBC banker, Sanjay Prakash visits Sri Lanka
Sanjay Prakash, Head of Commercial Banking, International Countries, Asia Pacific HSBC arrives in the country tomorrow on a 3- day business visit. Mr. Prakash has been part of the HSBC Group since 2001 having started his career as Chief Executive Officer for HSBC Global Asset Management, India. Thereafter he moved to Bangladesh as Chief Executive [...]
Deloitte replaces PwC as top global accounting firm
LONDON (Reuters) – Deloitte has piped rival PwC to become the world’s top accountant by revenue in the face of rising pressure on fees and new rules boosting competition, a global survey showed. The International Accounting Bulletin said Deloitte, PwC, KPMG and EY, dubbed the Big Four, still dominate the sector with over two-thirds of [...]
“Real estate market overview; commercial property segment”
Carsons Management Services (Pvt) Ltd has sent a clarification to the above story published in the Business Times on January 19. The letter said that “Carson Cumberbatch PLc” does not own any properties in its name and neither does it carry out any property development or rental business in its own name. The property development [...]
DPL profits down, appoints new Deputy Managing Director
Dipped Products Ltd (DPL), which went through a difficult year in 2013 owing to protests over its Rathupaswala latex glove manufacturing factory, has appointed R.L. Witanachchi as Deputy Managing Director of the company with effect from January 2014, accrding to an announcement on Monday. It was unclear as to whether the position is a new [...]
CMA workshop on new developments in SLAS (LKAS/SLFRS)
The Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka (CMA) is organizing a seminar on “New Developments in SLAS (LKAS/SLFRS)” on February 11 at 2:30-5 pm at the Distance Learning Centre SLIDA at Malalasekera Mawatha, Colombo 07. CMA Sri Lanka will source personnel from Ernst & Young Sri Lanka’s Financial Accounting Advisory Services (FAAS) and [...]
Nation Lanka gets Rs.1.5 bln boost from foreign investment firm
GEM Global Yield Fund LLC SCS is investing Rs.1.4 billion in finance company, National Lanka Finance PLC under an agreement signed this week, a stock exchange announcement by the local company said. The foreign firm is an investment fund of the Global Emerging Markets Group (GEM), an alternative investment group that handles a diverse set [...]
SL ‘relatively unscathed’ by QE tapering : Top economist
Sri Lanka came out ‘relatively unscathed’ following the first rounds of tapering of the US-based Federal Reserve’s Quantitative Easing (QE) programme, according to Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, a top economist and former Director of Economic Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat. The country has only experienced a little bit of money going out as well as some [...]
Lanka to buy 2,000 Leyland buses to strengthen passenger bus fleet
Sri Lanka is set to buy 2,000 buses from Lanka Ashok Leyland PLC., a joint venture between Ashok Leyland of India and the Sri Lankan government, on supplier’s credit basis, officials said. Transport Minister Kumara Welgama told the Business Times that the government will give the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) Rs. 5 billion spread [...]
“MALU’ ‘MALU’ 3-wheeler to deliver fish at your doorstep
Sri Lankan urban and rural consumers can soon look forward to delivery of fresh fish at their doorstep by mobile fish mongers using modified three wheelers. Sifang Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Brown & Company PLC, has introduced specially designed three wheelers to sell and transport of fish, a company spokesperson said. [...]
Environmentally- friendly motoring promotion in 2014
Sri Lanka will promote environmentally-friendly motoring this year further streamlining vehicle emission testing to keep the air that people breathe clean and fresh, Commissioner General of Motor Traffic S.H. Harischandra told the Business Times. Stringent regulations will be introduced to take action against owners of obsolete vehicles which cause air pollution as vehicle emission testing [...]
Popular Indian cars fail crash tests
Five of India’s most popular small cars have failed crash tests conducted by a UK-based car safety watchdog, according to a report on BBC Online. The tests by Global NCAP showed that if involved in a crash, fatalities or serious injuries could result. Among the cars tested were India’s talismanic Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest [...]
DIMO spreads its wings to the North
Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC (DIMO) will be opening its newest fully fledged branch and workshop at Jaffna within the next few months to provide after sales service to all customers in the North, the company announced in a media release. With modern tools and equipment, and competent technical staff, DIMO Jaffna will be probably [...]
Chinese Chery begins to blossom in Sri Lanka next month
Ideal Motors Ltd, the sole franchise partner of India’s Mahindra & Mahindra in Sri Lanka, has tied up with one of China’s largest car makers – Chery Automobile Company Ltd to market four types of Chery vehicles in the island, officials of the company said. These four types are; small car – Chery QQ, medium [...]
Ways of Monitoring finance companies
At a recent public interest seminar on ‘Repetitive Debacles of Finance Companies’ held in Colombo, public interest activist Nihal Sri Ameresekere recommend a new format of information to be regularly monitored in respect of each finance company. The seminar was held in the backdrop of the erosion of public confidence, with the collapse and speculated [...]
NDBIB secures 6 awards in 2013
NDB Investment Bank Ltd (NDBIB) has received six awards within a year signifying its continued leadership in the Sri Lankan capital market, the company announced. Most recently, NDBIB was adjudged as ‘Best Investment Bank in Sri Lanka 2013’ by International Finance Magazine (IFM), an online magazine based in London and the award was received by [...]
RAM reaffirms Hayleys ratings amidst high debt levels
RAM Ratings Lanka has reaffirmed Hayleys PLC’s (Hayleys) respective long- and short-term corporate credit ratings at AA- and P1. RAM pointed out, in a statement, that the ratings are tempered by the group’s moderately high debt levels as well as its exposure to fluctuations in commodity prices and foreign exchange risks. “On a separate note, [...]
Imagine there is a bank, which credits your account each morning. What would you do?
Imagine there is a bank, which credits your account each morning with some cash, carries over no balance from day to day; allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of [...]
Banks must vigorously recover bad loans
News relating to non-performing bank advances was topical during the last fortnight. The official contention is that the loans loss provision covers 80 per cent of the non-performing advances. Banks cannot afford to siphon out the earnings to cushion the losses arising out of its deviation from banking norms. No one seems to worry about [...]
Haycarb reports 3Q PBT of Rs. 752 million under challenging market conditions
Haycarb PLC, the multinational business of Hayleys Group and the largest manufacturer of coconut shell based activated carbon globally, posted a PBT (profit before tax) of Rs. 752 million for 9 months ended 31 December 2013 under challenging conditions. According to a company announcement, Haycarb reported a turnover of Rs. 7.6 billion for the period [...]
Seylan Bank customers connected to LankaPay CAS
Seylan Bank has joined the LankaPay Common ATM Switch enabling its customers to transact business at over 1,200 ATMs island-wide at low cost. This enables customers of one bank can use an ATM of another member bank at a fee of Rs. 15 for a cash withdrawal. The LankaPay network is operated by LankaClear with [...]
2014 seems better year for business, says top Lankan chamber
Sri Lanka’s business community is anticipating a better year for business in 2014, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) said on Monday. “There are a number of factors that point to a more positive outlook both at home and abroad. Inflation is in mid-single digits; the trade and current accounts of the balance of payments [...]
Merrill pledges fully Carbon neutral Dilmah by 2017
Sri Lanka-based global tea giant Dilmah recently committed to an annual US$ 1 million donation to the dual causes of nature conservation and community upliftment, according to the company’s founder Merrill J. Fernando. Speaking at a two-day sustainability and conversation event, titled “Who Cares about Nature”, organised recently by the Dilmah Conservation organisation, Mr. Fernando [...]
Boosting investment opportunities in southern Sri Lanka thro’ its first, trade show
An international trade exhibition in southern Sri Lanka would help expand trade and investment opportunities to the regions, says Imran Hassan, Managing Director of CDC Events and Travels (PVT) LTD. Speaking to the Business Times on the sidelines of the launch of the Southern International Trade Exhibition (SITE) 2014 at the BMICH on Wednesday, he [...]
Consolidation process of Sri Lanka’s financial sector smooth, says CB
Sri Lanka’s Central Bank (CB) says the consolidation process aimed at reducing by half the number of finance companies through mergers and acquisitions and merger of the two main development banks is going on smoothly. The CB said in a statement that the process would not, in any way, affect current transactions and deposits by [...]
Lankan architects aiming at designer village homes to uplift the community
Sri Lankan architects, keen to create a new identity and perception of their work and ethics, are launching a new programme aimed at enhancing the beauty of simple village homes made of wattle and daub, cadjan, cow dung floor houses – all to attract foreign tourists. Top officials told a media briefing this week in [...]
MICE Specialist Imran joins Connaissance (CDC)
Imran Hassan, a senior MICE specialist in Sri Lanka who headed a successful trade fair AND MICE organization in the past, has joined Connaissance De Ceylan (CDC), one of the country’s largest inbound tour operators, as the head of its new MICE operation. The new company is known as CDC Events & Travels (Pvt) Ltd. [...]
Reunion of former planters of the Maskeliya/Upcot district who call themselves ‘The Mascots”
“The Mascots”, a group of ex planters of the Maskeliya and Upcot District and others who were in the district and who were members of the Maskeliya Club, are having another reunion this month. Following the numerous requests from members, the General Committee has arranged a visit on 22-23 February 2014 to “The Mascots” former [...]
