Heat wave: Switch on the fans
As temperatures soar during the country’s scorching heat wave these days, there has been a run on electric fans, boosting average daily sales at shops. This picture shows a cart full of electric fans brought to a retailer in Pettah. (Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara)
Four shortlisted on proposed Hilton, Hyatt sale
Four parties have been shortlisted by the Ministry of Public Enterprise and Kandy Development for the position of advisor to seek suitable investors for the sale of government stakes in the Hilton and Grand Hyatt hotels. The four are Hotelivate Pvt Ltd-India, Jones Lang Lasalle Property Consultants (India) Pvt Ltd, KPMG-Colombo and Lazard Asia Ltd [...]
Consumer Financial Protection Authority takes off
In the face of the recent debacle of several finance companies, Sri Lanka is set to take more effective financial consumer protection measures to protect local and foreign consumers in the sophisticated and complex financial market at present, a senior Finance Ministry official divulged. A Consumer Financial Protection Authority (CFPA) will be established to control [...]
Public financial literacy improves to tackle online loan sharks
Sri Lankans’ financial literacy is being improved to prevent them falling prey to online loan sharks creeping into the Internet, top Central Bank (CB) officials said. This money lending menace has now gained a new outlook through its operations on online platforms, an independent check carried out by the Business Times revealed. The peer to [...]
Insurance takeovers: The next big thing
At least two insurance firms are for sale, while many foreign and local buyers are setting the stage for consolidation in this sector, insurance industry officials say. HNB Assurance PLC has approached many local parties to buy them over while Janashakthi Insurance PLC’s (JINS) life arm is being courted by multinational insurer, Germany’s Allianz who [...]
Nuwara Eliya season tourist traffic hit by 40% slump
The Nuwara Eliya season has been left hurt oiling its bruises from the recent violence that erupted in Kandy, resulting in an expected drop of about 40 per cent in both local and foreign tourist traffic, hoteliers said. Kandy Hoteliers Association President Samantha Ratnayaka told the Business Times that this is in the wake of [...]
Young talent against experience
This was the topic of the telephone conversation I was engaged in on Wednesday. My (Thursday) deadline had changed because the printing of the newspaper had been brought forward, ahead of the Sinhala and Hindu New Year (our chaps at the printing presses who churn out millions of newspapers daily need a break, no! What [...]
Modern Mercantilism
All of us would like to see Sri Lanka’s exports growing. For that matter, we want other countries to open their markets for our exports; if possible they can even grant us some concessions like GSP +. We appreciate the EU and the US for extending the GSP + and other concessions for Sri Lanka. [...]
STAX launches digital offering
STAX, the leading management consultancy in Sri Lanka, recently announced the launch of a new suite of digital solutions geared towards unleashing the full potential of Sri Lankan corporates. Regardless of whether a start-up or a long-established business, the newly developed offering is aimed at delivering continuous value throughout the digital value chain, the company [...]
Central Bank’s amended Monetary Law Act ready by end 2018
The Central Bank (CB) is seeking to amend the Monetary Law Act to support flexible inflation and these amendments will be ready by the end of the year, CB Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy has said. The cabinet has approved the framework for the amendments and the amended law will come into force by the end of [...]
“Condominium construction on Raymond Road”
As concerned public interest citizens, we are writing on a matter of great importance which if not controlled immediately, could lead to grave consequences. We have been made aware that apartments are going to be built at No 10, Raymond Road, Nugegoda. The residents of this road have suffered immensely due to the corruption and [...]
Advantis handles logistics for SL’s first 10MW Biomass Power Plant transportation
Advantis Projects has been appointed as the logistics solutions provider for COSCO Shipping Project Logistics Co, Ltd which has secured the total transportation of the country’s first 10MW biomass power plant project, being commissioned in Kalawaaragama, Moneragala by Green Watts (Pvt) Ltd. Advantis Projects in partnership with Chinese shipping major, COSCO Shipping, managed the movement [...]
IFC invests in Senkadagala Finance targeting women entrepreneurs
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is investing US$15 million in Senkadagala Finance PLC to help the company expand access to finance for women entrepreneurs across Sri Lanka. This loan is part of the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF), launched by IFC through its Banking on Women (BOW) programme, and Goldman Sachs 10,000 [...]
Workers’ remittances improve in Jan. 2018:CB
Workers’ remittances from West Asia which was on the back-foot in 2017 for a number of reasons including lower oil prices, registered considerable growth in January 2018, the Central Bank (CB) said in its review of import/export data for that month. In a media statement, the CB said remittances grew by 8.8 per cent, year-on-year, [...]
Fipbox: All the info you need to make an informed choice on FDs
Who offers the best rates for a fixed deposit (FD) in banks or financial institutions? Don’t look any further: Fipbox is a website that provides all the collected information about FD rates, returns, and various benefits offered on the FD investments, by banks and financial institutions in Sri Lanka. All the updated, current information is [...]
Asia Siyaka’s Rs.650 mn tea warehouse improves storage options
Warehousing is reaching new heights by maximising on space in a bid to provide the tea industry with an improved service to house their stocks found only at the Asia Siyaka facility at Wattala. Improving on the previously established 110,000 sq. ft storage facility with seven levels, Asia Siyaka has increased its warehousing within 87,000 [...]
“Disposal of unproductive non-financial assets”
I refer to an article in the Business Times on April 1 under the above headline where it is stated that a Comptroller General (CG), appointed under the Finance Ministry, has been entrusted mainly to prepare and maintain a list of central assets covering all non-financial assets of the government for monitoring purposes. While appreciating [...]
SLI felicitates long-serving employees through Harasara awards
Sri Lanka Insurance (SLI) recently recognised and felicitated employees who had served the company over a 25 and 35-year period at an event titled the “Harasara 2018” awards. In a media release, SLI recognised and felicitated 104 members of its staff for their loyal service, dedication and commitment to the company: 11 of the recipients [...]
Audit Bill gazetted but long way before Parliamentary sanction
The politically-beleaguered government is facing another challenge of establishing the office of the national audit office and the Sri Lanka state audit service; to specify the role of the auditor general over public finance and to make provision for matters connected to it, official sources said. Minister of Lands and Parliamentary Reforms and the Chief [...]
Video interviews: Speeding up the process for HR
Technology is disrupting the way companies recruit and the way human resource departments evaluate candidates. One innovation that is important to consider is the use of a video interview. In a media release, Sixer Video, a specialist in video interviews for recruitment, identifies three key reasons why video must be part of your HR strategy: [...]
DFCC forging partnerships abroad
The DFCC Bank is concentrating on getting into more focused areas to collaborate with markets abroad, officials said. DFCC will explore a range of opportunities in consolidation and offshore markets and the bank will also leverage on its group relationships particularly in the area of Public Private Partnerships,” Lakshman Silva, CEO/Director DFCC told the Business [...]
PDL will be delisted, eventually
Despite shareholders ‘nay’ to delisting to Property Development PLC (PDL) from Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), at an Extra Ordinary General Meeting held recently, CSE – according to its latest rules – will eventually do so, CSE officials noted. PDL in a stock market filing said a resolution towards delisting the shares of the company was [...]
NDB shareholders’ profit grows by 30 per cent
At NDB’s group level, Profits Attributable to Shareholders (PAS) grew by 30 per cent to Rs. 3.5 billion, as a result of new legislation. The PAS was affected by the cumulative deferred tax provision on the revaluation gains from investment property in line with the new Inland Revenue Act which came into effect from April [...]
Elephant House flavoured milk launched, finally
Late, but it’s never too late. Ceylon Cold Stores (CCS), manufacturers of the Elephant House brand has launched Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla UHT flavoured milk variants this season. A strong brand with widespread distribution network, but a late entrant into a relatively crowded market with products such as Anchor Newdale, Nespray Nutri Up, Richlife, Daily, [...]
ESG investment – the new hotspot
While investing in Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) has become more popular over the last 20 years; to the millennial generation, it’s almost a prerequisite. Investors such as Tundra Fonder emphasises on ESG standards and Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). This has prompted the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to promote local listed firms to adopt ESG [...]
Gearing for new trade laws in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO – Everyone was on the same page when it was agreed that the new laws on trade remedy which would protect the local industry were both “tedious and technical.” It surely is, if a seminar to enlighten local businesses held at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in Colombo last week was held up as [...]
Expediting the land registration process in Sri Lanka
‘Mea culpa’ – there was a soul searching self-confession by powerful government departments on the delay of getting any land registered. To expedite this process and to work on it the government has set up a ‘Registering Property Task Force’. To explain as to how the Task Force involved and set about their task and [...]
Brandix rated No. 1 ‘Corporate Export Brand’ by Brand Finance Lanka
Leading apparel exporter Brandix, for the fourth consecutive year, clinched the number one position under the ‘Corporate Export Brand’ category in the ‘Sri Lanka Brands 2018’ ranking conducted by Brand Finance Lanka. Brandix successfully emerged at the forefront in a ranking featuring some of the best export brands in Sri Lanka across an array of [...]
Colombo Port City journey begins with the unveiling of DCR
The Colombo Port city journey began with the unveiling of the project’s Development Control Regulations (DCR) at a gala ceremony in Colombo on Tuesday providing a clear mechanism for the implementation of the master plan and refined it further through urban design guidelines. Participating at the ceremony as the Chief Guest, Minister of Megapolis and [...]
INSEE partners with PIM to develop business leaders
INSEE Cement recently partnered with the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) to complete the Executive Leadership Development Programme (ELDP) for 2017/18. The objective of ELDP is to transform INSEE cement’s functional leaders into business leaders by moving them from mastery in their own individual functional areas to broader multi-dimensional roles. From over 40 self-driven middle [...]