“Evening with a British author”
The Sunday Times Business Club on Wednesday hosted British author Michael Smith at the Hilton during its monthly meeting where Mr. Smith presented his latest book “Leading with Integrity: Creating Positive Change in Organisations”. Picture shows Mr. Smith (second from left) with former Minister Sarath Amunugama [...]
Global firms opt out of Berlin’s largest travel show
Sri Lankan companies are going ahead with plans to participate at next month’s, biggest travel fair in Berlin even as participants from a number of other countries appear to have opted out. The annual International Travel Borse (ITB), the biggest travel fair, is held from March 4-8 in Berlin every year with a large participation [...]
SL awaits Indian response for debt payment relief
Sri Lanka is still awaiting a response for its request for a 3-year debt moratorium from the Indian government to gain some breathing space for its massive debt repayment of US$4.8 billion this year, Minister and cabinet spokesman, Minister Bandula Gunawardena said. The request was made by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa from his Indian counterpart [...]
Nimal Perera sells part of Spence stake in 3Q20
Stock market investor and Chairman Arimak Nimal Perera has sold a part of his holding at Aitken Spence PLC during 3Q2020, data shows. He owned 1,457,397 shares (0.36 per cent) as at last December – down from 4,200,110 shares as at September of that same year. He entered the company’s top 20 shareholders in 1Q19 [...]
Firms prefer S’pore to register biz
Many new firms – especially start-ups – are opting to register their businesses in Singapore instead of Sri Lanka owing to the stringent laws prevailing here, industry sources say. They said that while registering in Singapore gives companies regional as well as an Asian presence, firms latch onto the open policies in Singapore which makes [...]
Commercial Bank keen on local, overseas opportunities
The Commercial Bank which completed its centenary year is evaluating potential local and overseas opportunities in terms of strategic investments, officials say. “”We evaluated about 20 such opportunities last year. We continue to do so this year as well,” S. Renganathan, Managing Director / CEO Commercial Bank told the Business Times in an interview on [...]
Delaying the inevitable
The government is seeking parliamentary approval for an additional nearly Rs. 400 billion in borrowing to pay off bills, Minister and Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardene told reporters on Thursday. Isn’t this a familiar theme? Didn’t we hear this five years ago too when the Maithripala-Ranil combine won power to rule the country for five years? [...]
Come excited, leave disappointed
“They come and, they are excited when they come. But soon they leave and are disappointed when they leave,” Gihan Liyanage, Assistant Manager of Tangerine Beach Hotel said during a recent conversation with him. He had done an interesting research on a tough labour issue in the hotel industry for his Master’s degree in Tourism [...]
Hayleys Group records 41% profit growth in Q 3
The Hayleys Group, Sri Lanka’s most diversified conglomerate, says it has demonstrated “strong resilience in the 3rd quarter of 2019/20 to achieve a 41 per cent growth in profit-after-tax”. The robust performance during the quarter enabled the group to offset the subdued performance of the previous quarters, with the group’s profit-after-tax increasing by 18 per [...]
Singer Group Q3 FY 2019/20 records strong results
The Singer Group, reflecting a strong turnaround and delivering an impressive Q3 profits for the year 2019/20, reported consolidated profit after tax of Rs. 341.4 million, compared to Rs.17.4 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The mainstays of this significant improvement was due to growth across key product categories as a result [...]
Dipped Products group reports improved performance
Hayleys Group’s subsidiary Dipped Products PLC (DPL), a leader in the global hand protection glove market, reported Rs. 23.2 billion in group turnover for the nine months ending December 2019. The Hand Protection sector contributed Rs 13.4 billion to the group’s top line, while the Plantation sector recorded a turnover of Rs. 9.9 billion for [...]
Sri Lanka’s banks agree to provide credit support for SMEs
All Sri Lanka’s licensed banks have agreed to provide a special Credit Support Scheme to eligible Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) borrowers by way of suspending capital repayment for one year in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Central Bank (CB). The aim is to complement the fiscal incentives already announced by the Government [...]
Food safety conference in the US in May
The British Retail Consortium Global Standards (BRCGS), a leading brand and consumer protection organisation holds “Food Safety America 2020” on May 12 – 14, 2020 at La Cantera Resort and Spa at San Antonio, Texas. The event will bring together certificated sites, brand owners, certification bodies, approved training partners, consultants and BRCGS professionals among others. [...]
AIA Suwa Diriya, a new life insurance plan
In AIA’s quest to keep Sri Lankans financially secure, the insurance provider has introduced the AIA Suwa Diriya; a life insurance plan that helps ‘you’ to be adequately armed in the battle against critical illness. As a life insurance provider, AIA said in a media release that it understands the importance of keeping ‘your’ loved [...]
Global tech company Wiley buoyed by the talent of Sri Lankan software engineers
From a traditional publisher which started in 1807 as a book store in New York, to a distinguished, world-class high technology company and a provider of digital education. That’s John Wiley & Sons today, and in Colombo to explain its Sri Lanka technology centre and the phenomenal growth here was Aref Matin, the group’s Executive [...]
Ceylinco Life to restore 50 ha of land under project with University of Kelaniya
An initiative to restore and maintain fifty hectares (123.5 acres) of land owned by the Department of Forest Conservation in the Puttalam range is being supported by Ceylinco Life in collaboration with the University of Kelaniya, as part of the life insurance leader’s commitment to the environment and its effort to achieve zero carbon emissions [...]
Chinese Dragon Cafe employee who saved the life of an elderly customer
Chinese Dragon Café (Pvt) Ltd, the pioneering restaurant in Sri Lanka’s Chinese restaurant sphere, recently felicitated one of its Delivery Captains, Nilantha Saman Kumara De Silva who while on duty bravely saved the life of an elderly customer. He has done this generous deed while servicing a delivery order placed by a foreigner. Mr. De [...]
Tsing Tao tantalises again at Colombo Racecourse Promenade
At a time when Sri Lanka is experiencing an increase in the number of casual dining restaurants (CDR), fine dining, and quick service restaurant (QSR) outlets, international food brands are set to re-launch and expand their business in the country, restaurant industry sources said. Various new-to-market restaurant companies continue to explore opportunities and make investments [...]
Cabinet to decide on banning foreign cables’imports for CEB
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is to be directed to purchase electrical cables from local suppliers instead of foreign ones and a Cabinet paper for this purpose is to be presented shortly, industry sources said. This was confirmed by officials at the Ministry of Power and Energy. This paper came on the back of major [...]
Star Garment Group’s Innovation Centre wins global sustainability merit award
The Innovation Centre of the Star Garment Group (Star), a leading global manufacturing company, has received the 2020 Merit Award Winner in the category of Sustainability from the AIA New York (AIANY). AIANY’s annual Design Awards programme recognises outstanding architectural design by AIANY members, New York City-based architects in any location, and work in New [...]
Luxury brands, Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott to open hotels here
Chairman of Greener Water Limited Dhammika Perera (a fully owned subsidiary of Vallibel One PLC) and Chairman of Summer Season Ltd Mohan Pandithage recently signed two groundbreaking MOUs to establish global luxury brands JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton in Sri Lanka. While Mr. Perera signed the MOU with President – Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China) [...]
Ceyoka supports Anaesthesiologists and Intensivists with Advanced Monitoring Platform
The 36th Annual Academic Congress of the College of Anaesthesiologists and Intensivists was held recently in Colombo under the theme, ‘To overcome challenges and move forward’ and it was the sixth consecutive year that Ceyoka has sponsored the conference and related workshops. The workshops were on hemodynamic monitoring, underscoring Ceyoka’s steadfast support of Anaesthesiologists and [...]
‘Tech-Liya’ to boost women in tech entrepreneurship
While technology is becoming the forefront of everything in today’s context there are no barriers for anyone to learn in the digital space. Anyone from anywhere can use the digital space to introduce new businesses and ideas to make money while not just sitting in one place, idling. Women, especially after giving birth are either [...]
Sri Lanka’s MCC compact grant in the balance for the past two months
The offer of an MCC grant of US$480 million to Sri Lanka may not be available for much longer although the new government will have to wait for at least two months till the release of the special committee study report on the draft agreement. The MCC Board held its last meeting for the year [...]
Seylan Bank enters market with SD-WAN Networking System
Seylan Bank becomes the first organisation in the local banking industry to adopt SD-WAN (Software Defined Wide Area network) Technology in partnership with Citrix and V.S. Information Systems (Pvt) Ltd., (VSIS), the bank said this week in a media release. Commenting on this, Harsha Wanigatunga, Chief Information Officer, Seylan Bank said: “We are delighted to [...]
HMGO company working on a plant-based leather product
Founder of Poland-based HMGO, Sri Lankan-born Hema Gunawardana, was recently in Sri Lanka to launch his global brand to the discerning and fashion conscious elite. Mr. Gunawardana, who was in Sri Lanka with the HMGO team from Poland for the specific purpose of introducing their products to the Sri Lankan market as well as the [...]
LOLC Al-Falaah continues winning streak at IFN Best Banks Global Awards
LOLC Al-Falaah, at the 2019 IFN Best Banks Global Awards, proved its mettle once again as one of the global leaders in Islamic financing. LOLC Al-Falaah secured Best Islamic Leasing Provider in the International category and Best Islamic Bank in Sri Lanka for the second successive year, competing against global industry giants, the company [...]
LAN hosts first in a series of ‘Knowledge Sharing’ seminars
While Sri Lanka’s start-up ecosystem has grown rapidly, it is still very much focused in Colombo. Through workshops and seminars to be held island-wide, Lankan Angel Network (LAN) will educate rural communities on how innovation and entrepreneurship can help create jobs and boost the economy. Entrepreneurs that innovate or build for a clear need/pain-point have [...]
Strong quarter performance by Atlas boosts Hemas’ profit
Hemas Holdings PLC continued its recovery from a challenging first six months with Q3 FY 19/20 group revenue and operating profit broadly in line with Q3 FY18/19. On a Quarter on Quarter (Q-o-Q) basis, Hemas grew strongly over Q2 FY19/20. Revenue grew by Rs.2.3 billion, 14.9 per cent over Q2 while operating profit and earnings [...]
Sampath Bank reports marginal drop in 2019 post-tax profit
Sampath Bank’s total operating profit before impairment and taxes grew by 1.1 per cent to Rs. 34.8 billion in 2019 compared to Rs.34.4 billion reported in 2018. “However, profit before tax (PBT) for the year 2019 dropped to Rs. 15.5 billion from Rs. 18.3 billion in 2018. This decline of 15.5 per cent is attributed [...]
MillenniumIT ESP carries out fastest Oracle ERP Implementation for HNBA
MillenniumIT ESP – one of Sri Lanka’s leading Systems Integrator and Information Systems Provider, recently announced that it has successfully implemented the Oracle ERP Cloud platform for HNB Assurance (HNBA), a leading insurance service provider in Sri Lanka. The project was completed within a short span of seven weeks, recording the fastest Oracle ERP implementation [...]
TFC depositors, employees blame CB for company crisis
The situation is moving from bad to worse for around 145,000 depositors and 400-odd employees of the crippled The Finance Company PLC (TFC) as it is facing a cancellation of its licence by the Central Bank (CB), with the banking regulator coming under heavy criticism and accusations. At a media conference in Colombo on Wednesday, [...]
UK acknowledges GSP + importance to Sri Lanka
The UK has affirmed that Sri Lanka’s exports would receive the same treatment as it did under the trade concessions it obtained under the European Union (EU) preferential trade agreements. UK High Commissioner Sarah Hulton addressing the post business session of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA) at [...]
BOC Smartpay offers digital payments for Mobitel customers
The Bank of Ceylon (BOC) recently with Mobitel, to deliver convenience to Mobitel customers in making digital payments through QR (quick response) code based payment solution, SmartPay. BOC SmartPay is the ideal choice for today’s busy customers who seek convenience, simplicity, high security and speed as key factors in their payment experience. With SmartPay, customers [...]
Dialog launches innovative Apple Watch Series 5
Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider and the only 4G VoLTE and VoWiFi mobile network, authorised reseller and partner network for Apple devices, recently launched the highly anticipated Apple Watch Series 5 in Sri Lanka. Customers who purchase the Apple Watch Series 5 devices through Dialog will receive exclusive offers including credit card [...]
CIC Group bounces back to reach Rs. 1 bn PAT
CIC Holdings PLC, after a difficult year subsequent to the re-structure, has reported a vastly improved after tax profit of over Rs. 1 billion at the end of the third quarter of the current financial year which is an increase of over 300 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the last financial year. [...]
Emerging Sri Lankan economists show their colours at 16th SAESM
Economics undergraduates who took part in the 16th South Asian Economics Students Meet (SAESM) in Kathmandu last month were able to show their talent to the world, by achieving the best ever performance by a Sri Lankan team since the initiation of the event 16 years ago. While securing a win in half of the [...]
More electronic goods manufacture needed to propel growth
While global value chains account for 50 per cent of total global trade, Sri Lanka’s biggest manufacture – the apparel sector is not linked to it. However the manufacture of electronic goods and automobiles is linked to global value chains like in the East Asian countries but Sri Lanka is not part of it and [...]