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Business

Correction
Reference our story headlined "SLPA, SAGT battle over tariff rebates", which appeared on the front page of The Sunday Times Business of 23 June, Rohan Abeywickrema quoted in the report is from the Sathsindu Group of Companies and not from Sea Consortium.

Shell felicitates southern entrepreneurs
Ten young southern entrepreneurs were felicitated for their commitment and dedication at the first heat of the Shell LiveWire Regional "Young Business Start up Awards" (YBSA) held at the Peacock Beach Hotel in Hambantota recently.

The event was organised in collaboration with LiveWire's regional partner, the Hambantota District Chamber of Commerce, (HDCC). H.W. Hemantha Kumara Priyadarshi, proprietor of Thushara Printers along with Karunasena Amaraweera Pathirana, owner of Pathum Renters and Caterers were chosen as finalists for the National LiveWire awards scheduled to be held in August 2002.

They beat eight others to make it into the national finals. Over Rs. 400,000 in prizes will be on offer at this year's national competition with the winner receiving a substantial cash prize, free publicity and vital networking business links. Shell LiveWire Trust, a community investment initiative of Shell Lanka, aimed at encouraging youth entrepreneurship in the island is conducting its third Shell LiveWire Young Business start up Awards.

Mundogas dismisses fears
Mundogas Lanka Ltd has dismissed safety fears raised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce over its proposed liquid petroleum gas (LPG) floating storage facility in the Galle harbour.

The facility that is planned for Galle will have the required specialist safety features in use elsewhere in the world, Mundogas chairman Ariyaseela Wickramanayaka said.

It is "extremely common elsewhere in the world for oil, gas and chemicals to be stored within ports both large and small," he said in a statement.

It was in response to a Sunday Times story headlined 'LP gas unloading in Galle port: Warning' which quoted a Ceylon Chamber of Commerce statement raising such concerns.

DFCC Bank upgrades computer system
DFCC Bank has announced it has selected System Access' flagship product netSYMBOLS to upgrade its computer system.

By utilising netSYMBOLS, DFCC Bank aims to raise the level of customer service to its growing customer base while expanding its scope of operations, a bank statement said.

"Our bank, whilst expanding its operations in commercial lending, corporate finance and capital markets, plans to leverage its valuable customer base by offering new products and services," said Sidath Wijeratne, Senior Vice President, Information Technology of DFCC Bank.

NetSYMBOLS has the flexibility to facilitate product development to satisfy the needs of customers and implement an integrated suite of business application systems that can evolve to meet the changing business needs of the bank, said Wijeratne.

SLT, BoC in hassle-free bill payment scheme
Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has joined hands with Bank of Ceylon (BoC) to implement its direct debit telephone bill payment scheme.

"Our aim is to offer more value to our customers. The Direct Debit Scheme will gradually remove the hassle of paying telephone bills by going to service outlets in person. That will be a great value addition to our customers," said SLT CEO Shuhei Anan in a statement.

This payment scheme will help SLT customers to pay their telephone bills through their BoC branches. They only have to advise their respective banks to settle SLT bills through BoC through an application. Once the customer consents to the scheme, the monthly charge will be deducted from the customer's account. Initially this scheme will be available only for Bank of Ceylon current account holders at all its 350 branches spread out across the island but will be expanded to other banks very soon.

Stockmarket
Colombo bourse falls for third week
By John Breusch
The Colombo Stock Exchange ended a tumultuous month with a whimper last week as it fell for the third consecutive week on low volumes.

The All Share Index lost 7.7 points over the four days to close at 711.4 points, while the blue chip Milanka index dropped 22.8 points to finish at 1222 points.

Volumes were also modest, struggling to climb above Rs. 90 million.

The quiet activity was a far cry from the drama of the rest of the month.

June experienced the third highest volumes on record on the CSE, thanks to a series of big transactions, including Dr. Sena Yaddehige's play on Richard Pieris and Company and some heavy trading in DFCC, NDB and Aitken Spence.

The markets actually ended the month higher than they began, but that was entirely due to a feverish first week, which saw the sensitive Milanka index climb more than eight percent.

Since then, the indices have experienced a gentle slide as investors reverted to profit taking.

Nevertheless, sharemarket analysts remain confident that strong investor confidence would ensure the bourse resumes its steady climb.

"There might be short term fluctuations for a while before it heads back up," said one broker.

Among the stocks, Commercial Bank ended the week Rs. 5 lower at 191.75, while DFCC also slipped, dropping Rs. 8 to close at Rs. 169.

Dipped Products, which during the week announced a 1 for 8 bonus issue, gained Rs. 7 to Rs. 70.

And blue-chip conglomerate Hayley's, which announced a similar issue, climbed Rs. 7 to finish on Friday at Rs. 144.

Emirates Airlines brings Disneyland and Paris closer to Sri Lankans
A visit to Disneyland in Paris, just a dream to many Sri Lankans, has become a realistic option under a new package announced by the Colombo office of Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline.

The airline in conjunction with its leisure management company Emirates Holidays is now marketing travel to Disneyland with accommodation for five nights at just Rs. 131,100 per person sharing, and Rs. 70,100 for a child sharing with two adults, a statement from the airline said.

This offer available from July includes return air tickets, two nights in Paris, and three nights in Disneyland with breakfast and park entrance tickets for four days.

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