Bottom Line

By Kal Q lus

NDB sqeezing margins and increasing gearing

National development bank's interest income for the nine months ending 30 th September 1999 increased 18.9 per cent to Rs 3.2 bn while net interest income declined 9.4 per cent to Rs 697 mn indicating that margins have been squeezed. However profit after tax remained flat, increasing .12 per cent to 423.9 mn.

Other income declined 40.5 per cent to Rs 117 mn. A Rs 70.4 mn provision for the fall in the value investments has been written back compared to a Rs. 417 mn provision made for the same period last year. Other administrative and general expenses for the period have risen 68.8 per cent to Rs 150.6 mn.

Loans and advances increased 19 per cent to Rs 26 bn while lease rentals receivable increased 91 per cent to Rs 1.7 bn. The company's equity funds grew by .7 per cent while assets increased to 21.9 per cent indicating the bank is increasing its gearing.

Aitken Spence profits to double in second half

Aitken Spence and Company Ltd's turnover for the six months ended 30 th September 1999 increased 18.4 per cent to Rs 1.83 bn YOY. Profit after tax increased 59 per cent to Rs 57.8 mn. Profit after tax for the six months ended 30 th September 1998 was Rs 36.2 mn. "The tourism sector in Sri Lanka saw a steep rise in profits as did the Maldivian sector.

Profits should more than double in the next half," Aitken Spence and Company Ltd, Managing Director, Ratna Sivaratnam told The Sunday Times Business. The Groups' other sectors including printing and packaging and cargo logistics showed a decline in profits. Unfavourable conditions in the plantation sector caused the contribution from associate companies to decline.

CGM Express Print Shop launched

CGM Express Print Shop, a unique printing franchise was launched in the island for the first time. CGM Express Print Shop is a joint venture formed between the Ceylinco Group and Gestetner of Ceylon Ltd. going by the international printing franchise methods. Ceylinco Gestetner Printshops (Pvt), franchise holders of CGM Express plans to expand the current shop network of 35 outlets to 100 within a one year period. The project will give the advantage and access of fast and convenient printing designing and copying to the general public whilst taking the technology advantage to the provinces.

A spokesman of the company said that the project had given a good high return business to the investor population while serving the customers, by changing the pace in the printing industry which was quite boring and slow. He also added that the company's objectives cover aspects such as continuous value addition and giving exclusivity in a given area thus giving all incentives for investment. For this as an initial step the company recently announced a tie-up with Hayleys Photo Print in which case the CGM outlets will be used as sales points for Conqueror paper & boards as well as Fuji films. The second strategic alliance with Airborne Express will give the advantage of Local and International courier facilities, a news release said.

The CGM Express Print Shop Network that established 35 shops in the network within a short period of one year will tap the potential of creativity while providing employment to a large number of individuals.

All CGM outlets will have the facility and capability of printing things such as Business cards, Letterheads, Leaflets, Bill and Receipt books (Including carbonized paper), Invitation Cards, Manuals, Company Memos to Wedding Cards to anything at an unbelievable cost. It is also said that the CGM Express Print Shop chain is working on a corporate package which could reduce an organization's printing bill by 50%.

Colombo Dockyard wins National Safety Award

Colombo Dockyard Limited has bagged the National Merit Award for the Safest Work Place for the Shell Terminal Lanka project site in the all-Island Medium Category.

A major engineering projoct where four Spherical Storage Vessels for LPG with a capacity of 4000 M3 each was built, Colombo Dockyard Limited had to keep abreast of the highest quality and safety requirements that were set out by the Shell International and the main contractors of the project - Stork Engineers and Contractors B.V. and Schelde SICON BV. In addition, CDL was instrumental in completing the Piping and Mechanical Works in the same Project which involved fabrication, welding, erection and commissioning of the entire on-shore piping system and installation of all the stand and inline equipment, a company release said. A remarkable feature of this project was that the entire workforce was felicitated, as a token of appreciation on achievement of set-target safety milestones during the construction stage.

Another noteworthy achievement is that CDL was able to complete this giganitc project within the stipulated period of 270 days without any Lost Time Incident (LTI).

The irony of this construction of four pressure vessels for storage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) was that this Project recorded over 500,000 man hours without LTI.

Market update

Readywear buys more UML

By Dinali Goonewardene

A dull week on the Colombo bourse livened up on Friday when turnover rose to Rs 209.9 mn. Turnover was boosted when John Keells sold 3.82 mn shares in United Motors at Rs 45 to Readywear Industries. Readywear industries now controls approximately 68 per cent of United Motors. The company made a mandatory offer to minority shareholders last week.

The All Share Price Index dropped 0.7 per cent during the week to close at 544.2 while the Milanka Price Index fell 1.1 per cent to register 882.3. Average turnover for the week was Rs 60.2 mn. Foreign participation was negligible and net foreign inflows during the week were Rs 0.8mn.

Top gainers for the week include C W Mackie 33.3 per cent, Overseas Reality 33.3 per cent and Blue Diamonds 28.57 per cent. Sathosa Motors lost 52.3 per cent while Agalawatta Plantations dropped 14.29 per cent and Ceylinco Housing fell 11.1 per cent.

"I don't see much happening next week but there will be activity in early December, coinciding with the run up to the elections," Head of Research, CDIC Sassoon Cumberbatch Stock Brokers, Diluk Desinghe predicted. "There will also be activity from foreign funds switching holdings," he added. "Oil prices are moving up and this could lead to the economic upliftment of Russia, which will impact the local tea market favourably in the long term," Desinghe said.

"Next week will be a dull week in the run up to the elections," Head of Research, Asia Securities, Dushyanth Wijaysingha said. "Investor participation will continue to dwindle because of violence relating to elections and fighting in the north," he said.

"The market is more likely to be volatile than stagnant in the run up to the elections," Strategist, Jardine Fleming HNB Securities, Amal Sanderatne said. "The direction of political and military news will have a greater influence on market movements in coming weeks than that of corporate and economic news," Sannderatne said.

"It is difficult to say which way the election will go and this will fuel retail speculation," Head of Research, MMBL Phillip Securities, Nouzab Fareed said. "This is an ideal time for transfers because there is no interest in the market. Foreign interest will be low and I think captive sources will come in to the market," he said

"Selective stock picking by investors betting on the forthcoming elections will cause the indices to fluctuate within a narrow range," Assistant Manager John Keells Stock Brokers, Suresh Nadarajah said. "However the sluggish environment in the market is expected to continue," he said

Mind your business

By Business Bug

Business is Business

All is fair in love, war and politics it seems as the campaign for the presidential poll gets underway. Maybe that is why upscale printers have been sent discreet messages urging them that green and red campaign material should not be published.

The message is 'look after our interests and we will look after yours' but the appeal has by and large been ignored. After all, business is business, whether it is blue or green.

Merit the sole criterion

With polls in the offing this is also the season for rumour and speculation, even in the green camp. And there were the hangers-on who wanted to know what slice of the cake they were getting in return for their help. Some wanted to be the bosses of the big banks and others wanted to head the national airline.

But the green boss, his hand already full with campaign work would have none of it and was not making any promises. Appointments, if any, will have to wait until after the elections, they were told and even then, merit would be the criterion...

All's well that ends well

The retirement of the second in command of a corporate entity that claims to have a heart has created a buzz in business circles with speculation that all is not well within the group.

But there is in fact no cause for alarm and even the retirement was an amicable parting, insiders say. The only pall of gloom comes from a subsidiary which has lost its sparkle and may soon change hands, we hear...

Tea Update

Shafraz Farook

Tea records marginal price changes

Tea auctions saw another week of rickety tea prices last week as most grades from all three elevations recorded marginal price changes. The trend was led by gains in the low growns sector that have been recording a consistent price gain in the previous auctions. Low grown tea prices averaged Rs. 132.08 in last week's auctions. High and mid growns witnessed a lot of fluctuations but more towards declines.

John Keells Commodity Brokers reported that the demand for the ensuing sales upto the end of this year was difficult to predict. They said this was due to factors such as Christmas vacations, focus on Y2K, disturbance to offerings and quality due to work stoppage, crop increases presently being witnessed, conclusion of the Iraqi contract, slowing down of the Russian buying and the Ramadhan period.

"Therefore we see significant fluctuations but overall, the price structure is not likely to be unattractive."

Asia Siyaka reported that production in the higher elevations has shown a sharp increase. They said that fields that were left un-plucked during the period of mourning for Minister Thondaman and immediately thereafter during the post Deepavali absenteeism. This combined with reasonable cropping conditions has resulted in heavy crop intakes recorded on most plantations in the higher elevations, they said. They added that the ex-estate catalogue for the sale of January 8 which closed this week has virtually doubled in quantity from 0.5 million kg to 0.9 million kg.

However, previously industry officials said that there might be a drop in quantity due to the same reasons.

Meanwhile, sales figures published by John Keells Commodity Brokers indicate an increase in sales for the period January/October 1999. Tea sales in the local auctions in the period has exceeded 222 million kilos from 291.2 million kilos recorded in the same period last year. In addition the sales average for October too has gone up from 122.47 last year to 132.22 this year. However, the cumulative average for January/October 1999 was Rs. 112.56 lower that the Rs. 136.50 recorded last year.

Elsewhere in the industry, the Tea Commission in Cairo, Egypt has informed that the decree which made the certificate of origin mandatory for all imports into Egypt from November last year was reversed.

As per the new directive, exports of tea to Egypt should indicate the country of origin only on the invoice, which should be certified by the Egyptian Embassy/Trade office in the supplying country free of charge.

They added that the new regulation is bound to allow manufacturers to ship tea to Egypt either from the country of production or their branches and distribution centers in other countries. It is also reported that the new decree has come into effect from November 7, 1999.

Blend and export, says guru

The tea industry was asked to change its attitude towards importing teas to be blended and exported if the industry is to group itself and become more competitive to face the global challenges, a top management consultant said last week.

"Internationalisation, requires a change of thinking and you cant do that if there is no trust between the manufacturers and exporters," management guru Kevin Murphy CEO J E Austin Associates said.

Murphy says there is a great demand to blend teas and export it to capture a bigger market.

"There is a great fear here that it will devalue the Ceylon tea image. This has led to a fundamental distrust between producers and manufacturers and this mental model will have to be changed if tea is to fair better in the international markets, or it will be too late" he said.

He cited the example of the local gems and jewellery sector. "When we studied the sector a few years ago it was not doing too well as manufacturers had to import gold and pay a duty. By the time the government liberalised the gold imports, the industry had lost out on exploiting the market as the liberalisation followed the East Asian crisis."

Ceylinco Life tops premium income

Ceylinco Insurance's Life Division has reported the highest premium income among private sector insurers in the third quarter of 1999 , retaining its position as the largest private sector life insurer in Sri Lanka.

According to the latest figures released by the company, premium income in this period exceeded Rs. 908 million. This figure, which represents an increase of over 171 million over the corresponding period in 1998, indicates that Ceylinco Life's share of the private sector life insurance market now tops 40 per cent, the news release said.

Describing this performance as "most encouraging" Ceylinco Insurance's Director/General Manager (Life) Mr. R. Renganathan said the company was confident it would continue to dominate the private sector insurance market in the years ahead. Ceylinco Insurance's Life Division sold over 31,463 individual life policies during the period under review.

The success of the company could be attributed to its innovative life insurance policies which cater to the needs of a wide cross section of customers , Mr. Renganathan said.

Ceylinco Life's success in the insurance business has prompted the company to diversify into the medical services sector with the establishment of a hi-tech Second Opinion Centre, to provide cancer patients with electronic access to international medical specialists for second opinions.

Ceylinco Insurance has also invested substantially in information technology. In September the Ceylinco Insurance became the first local insurance company to offer insurance facilities on the Internet.

Bitech to teach IBM courses in Sri Lanka

IT students in Sri Lanka will soon be able to follow IBM computer courses and obtain internationally recognised IBM certificates. These advanced computer courses will be offered by Bitech Lanka (Pvt) Ltd., IBM's business partner for Advanced Career Education (ACE) in Sri Lanka, a company release said.

The accreditation of a business partner by IBM follows a process of strict evaluation, to ensure IBM's international standards of quality in education and training.

"We are pleased that our accreditation by IBM as an ACE partner came just eight months since we established the Bitech centre in Sri Lanka, in December 1998," says Rinzan Hamza, General Manager of Bitech Lanka. "The market demands trained personnel to meet the requirements of network computing enterprise resource planning and product development. We plan to upgrade both our faculty and our facilities to meet this challenge."

With the demand for trained IT personnel increasing rapidly in every field, so has the demand for educational certificates from the world's biggest computer company. IBM certificate-holders secure entry to the best-paid entry-level positions in the computer field all over the world, according to PC World magazine.

Bhari Information Technology Systems Private Limited, or Bitech, is a subsidiary of Transworld lnformation Systems Inc., USA, a transnational conglomerate with offices in the US, India, UAE, Lebanon, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. It has 36 education and training units in India and five overseas including Colombo.

Bitech Lanka plans to conduct advanced career courses in Basic IT, AS/400, C++, JAVA, System Network Administrator, Programming Core and PC User, and to expand its Software Development department to cater to an increasing number of software assignments.

CEAT-Kelani produces new range of tyres

The strategic partnership of Associated CEAT and Kelani Tyres has given birth to a new range of light truck and bus tyres truly representative of the merits of both brands: the new range bears the brand name "CEAT-Kelani"

This unique marriage of the two brands is expected to significantly enhance the brand equity and image of the tyres manufactured by CEAT Kelani Associated Holdings Limited (CKAHL) for the domestic market, the company said in a news release.

It said the process began with the re-branding earlier this month, of tyres of the 900-20 size with the names "CEAT-Kelani" and "Abhimana" (Pride) which would be the sub- brand for heavy commercial tyre range. This is to be followed by the launch in November of a new range of light commercial tyres for buses and light trucks under the brands "CEAT-Kelani" with the sub-brand of "Pragathi" (Progress).

CEAT has invested substantially in transfer of technology and quality upgrades at the former Kelani Tyres plant in Kelaniya, and its willingness to lend its name to Kelani tyres reflects a commitment to building the joint venture's market share and confidence in the quality of its products, CKAHL Managing Director Abhik Mitra said.

He said the launch of these new brands will provide the local market with a wider choice of tyres from the CEAT Kelani partnership. The brands now available are CEAT, Kelani, and CEAT-Kelani. The joint venture also plans to launch in the near future, a fourth brand - RPG (the name of CEAT's parent company in India) to open up new export markets, Mr. Mitra disclosed.

CEAT Kelani Associated Holdings General Manager - Sales and Marketing Ashwin Padukone added that two additional moulds for the production of 1000-20 turbo-rib tyres are to be installed shortly at the Kelaniya plant. This would double production of these tyres, which generally cater to the institutional market.

"Combined with our branding strategy, this capacity enhancement represents a serious bid to capture a larger share for locally manufactured tyres in the commercial vehicle segment", Mr. Padukone said.

ANZ reports steady growth

ANZ Grindlay's parent, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) today reported an operating profit after tax of $1,480 million for the year ended September 30, 1999. There were no abnormal items. The profit for the previous year was $1,106 million or $1,175 million before abnormal items. After adjusting for these items the profit increase was 18%. Earnings per share grew by 17% to 90.6 cents, the press release said.

The final dividend will be 30 cents, bringing the full-year dividend to 56 cents. This is up 8% from 1998. Franking has been increased to 80% in the second half, from 75% in the first half. Franking last year was 60%. ANZ expects to increase the level of franking again in the year ahead.

ANZ Chairman, Mr. Charles Goode, made the following comment about the result. "It has been a very good year for ANZ with substantial progress in implementing a focused strategy and in improving performance. The dividend has again been increased. We have put in place an excellent management team which is performing well. There is a strong foundation for ANZ to continue to perform and deliver value for shareholders."

Chief Executive Officer, Mr. John McFarlane, said: "The 1999 result demonstrates that ANZ is delivering on the commitments we made to shareholders to generate strong earnings growth, to reduce costs, to lower risk and to improve the return on equity."

"At the same time, we have re-balanced our business mix towards higher return, lower risk businesses. We are also delighted with our rapid progress in e-Commerce through anz.com with more than 100,000 customers now registerd for Internet banking. The rollout of our Premier Banking offering underscores our commitment to improving the customer experience."

"The effective management of capital is a priority for ANZ. The high level of internal capital generated from strong earnings growth, the implementation of risk reduction programs, and the preference share issue, have all created a capital surplus for the Group. We are therefore announcing today an on-market ordinary share buyback of up to $500 million, as the first step in addressing our surplus capital."

Admark does Sri Lanka proud at Cresta '99

Admark Services (Pvt.) has won a 'Certificate of Merit' to Admark Services (Private) Limited at the recently held 'Cresta International Advertising Awards 1999' for their production of a brochure titled "The Spice of Lanka".

The very colourful and attractive brochure with text in English and Spanish was produced to promote the export of Sri Lanka spices for Admark's client Spiceco Limited, which is a subsidiary company of Sherman Sons Ltd. The brochure also features the long history of the Sri Lankan company's association with the spice trade.

The Cresta Awards are organized by Creative Standards International in partnership with the world body of International Advertising Association (IAA) and in association with Multichannel Advertising Bureau International (MAB).

The 1999 Cresta Awards ceremony, which was the seventh annual event, took place in September in Badapest, Hungary. Pre-selection juries were held in Barcelona, Budapest, Hamburg, Helsinki, Lisbon, Mexico City, Miami, New York, Tel- Aviv, Tokyo, Sydney, Vienna, Warsaw and Zurich, with the final winners chosen by Cresta's International Grand Jury of 49 leading creative directors, film specialists and graphic designers from 30 countries.

Entries were received from 55 countries and were judged on the basis of two criteria only: the originality of the creative idea and the quality of its creation.

Emirates does it again

HH General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE's Defence Minister and the Crown Prince of Dubai, has inaugurated Emirates Airline's new corporate livery at a prestigious ceremony to mark the arrival of the airline's first Boeing 777-300. The ceremony took place on November 14 during the official opening of Dubai 200, a news release said. Sheikh Mohammed led a ceremony of landmark developments: the first public showing of Emirates' new livery on the airline's first Boeing 777-300, which is the world's longest aircraft. This is Emirates' first change of corporate identity in the airline's 14-year history.

The highlight was a visit to Emirates' Boeing 777-300 by Sheikh Mohammed, who was accompanied by HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates and President of the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation and Boeing's Seddik Belyamani, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing. Boeing's delegation also comprised Doug Groseclose, Vice President (South Asia/Pacific, Africa and Middle East) and Paul Dubeck, Sales Director.

Sheikh Mohammed said: "Emirates is the symbol of Dubai's success and a global representation of our progress into the 21st century. Today marks another milestone in Emirates' history - a new corporate livery and the arrival of its latest wide bodied aircraft." Boeing's Mr. Belyamani said: Emirates is one of the world's top airlines in terms of passenger-pleasing service and The Boeing Company is proud that Emirates has opted for our latest aircraft. The combination of Emirates and the Boeing 777-300 will provide passengers with a superior travel experience." Emirates' first Boeing 777-300 had successfully completed a non-stop flight from Boeing's base in Seattle, to Dubai on November 13.

Emirates' new corporate identity

Emirates' new look is smart. stylish and contemporary - reflecting a modern airline progressing into the 2lst Century. The original livery - designed by British chartered designer firm, Negus & Negus when the airline was launched in 1985 - has been updated with a new typeface for the logo and more flowing design elements to create the feel of a modern, youthful and dynamic airline. The new Emirates logo has also increased in size to dominate the forward part of the aircraft fuselage. The Arabic logo is also seen on the fuselage as well as the wing tips and engine. Regardless of the length of the aircraft, the logo will retain the same size and positioning.

The most striking change is to the tail fin, on which are the UAE national flag colours, the traditional emblem which symbolises Emirates as the country's international carrier. In keeping with the contemporary theme, the UAE national flag colours now emblazon the tail fin in a more flowing and streamlined manner, with an emphatic sweep to the red, black and green. These are refreshing updates created by Emirates' Corporate Communications to inject elements of movement and flow as visual symbols of the UAE's dynamic combination of traditions and modern progress.

Ericsson appoints Delair

Delair Limited has been awarded the contract for total supply chain management of all telecommunications equipment imported into the country by Ericsson.

The contract, believed to be one of the biggest in value terms by an importer into Sri Lanka, covers the full gamut of supply chain management, from pre-documentation, clearing of goods at the airport and port, transport to warehouses, warehouse management, transport and delivery to specified sites all over Sri Lanka, including the northern and eastern provinces, a news release said.

Since most of the equipment, which includes antennas, switching systems, heavy-duty stand-by batteries air conditioner units and other general telecom equipment is under warranty, Delair has also been entrusted with picking up from site and returning to the shipper, any items which turn out to be faulty.

The winning of the Ericsson contract is an important milestone in the growth of Delair, which recently strengthened its team with the recruitment of Dinesh Sri Chandrasekera as Divisional Director, the company said. Mr Chandrasekera, who was previously employed by a US-based freight forwarding company, will be responsible for Business Development.

Delair Limited was incorporated in 1978 as the forwarding arm of the Delmege Forsyth Group of Companies. The main objective was to establish itself as a strong multi-modal freight forwarder. Delair offers a total logistics solution to customers engaged in international trade, including air freight/sea freight, customs brokerage and a full range of specialised services such as multi-country consolidation, group-age services and door-to-door deliveries. Delair holds an exclusive agency agreement with MSAS Global Logistics.

MSAS Global Logistics is the preferred transportation and logistics supplier to many of the world's most demanding clients. The orgainsation supports supply chain operations by building customised programmes from a complete range of service capabilities such as global transporation, regional distribution, inventory control, warehousing, value added services, information management and supply chain solutions. The global service network extends across more than 550 locations in 112 countries and employs 14,000 people. MSAS Global Logistics is part of Ocean Group plc. UK.

DHIRAAGU goes for GSM technology

Informatics (Private) Limited recently signed a contract with the Telecom Operator of the Republic of Maldives DHIRAAGU Ltd., for the supply and commission of a GSM Mobile Billing and Customer Care System. DHIRAAGU is owned by the Government of Maldives and Cable & Wireless of U.K. (55% and 45% respectively), says a company news release.

DHIRAAGU, is upgrading their mobile network from Analogue to Digital, and chose the GSM technology for it. The integrated software, covering Customer Care and Customer Billing, Equipment and Service Sales, Unit Equipment Maintenance, Equipment Distribution (SIM Card Management and Purchase Order Processing) and Help Desk Management, is provided by Informatics. Noteworthy features of the software are on-line subscriber and services administration (On-line Mediation and On-line Service Provisioning), Hot Billing and enterprise wide integration. The software is Intranet enabled, and is launched from an Internet Browser. The hardware, such as Servers and Point-of-Sale machines are also provided by Informatics.

As a leading Systems Integrator in the South Asian Region, Informatics has become the preferred solutions provider for a number of Regional Telecoms. Sri Lanka's largest Fixed Line Operator - Sri Lanka Telecom Limited, Sri Lanka's largest Mobile Operator - Celltel Lanka Limited, Pakistani Mobile Operator - Pakcom Limited, and since 1999, the Fixed Line and Mobile Operator of the Maldives - DHIRAAGU, are some of the illustrious customers of Informatics in the Telecom Sector.

Informatics' Customer Care and Billing software solution for DHIRAAGUis based on the GSM Billing and Customer Care System developed by Tieto Corporation (formerly Avancer and prior to it the EDP department of Telecom Finland) of Finland. AvaBill is a convergent billing and customer care system that has modules for the billing of GSM, Wireless Local Loop, Fixed Line, Internet / E-mail and other Mobile (Analogue and Digital) services. AvaBill runs on most of the open systems standard hardware supporting the Oracle RDBMS. It is a modernized extract of two of Sonera's (former Telecom Finland) domestic Billing Systems.

Founded in 1983, Informatics (Pvt) Ltd., is a leading systems integrator and software solutions provider in Sri Lanka, as claimed by a company official. Their strategic business units include Banking and Finance Solutions, Telecom Industry Solutions, Hotel Industry Solutions, Government Core Business Solutions and the Retail Industry Solutions. Informatics (Pvt) Ltd. is a member of the Informatics group of companies, which operates in the Information Technology, Higher Education and Agricultural sectors.

Janashakthi records growth

Janashakthi General Insurance Company Ltd. has recorded a growth in its gross premium income and net profit before tax for nine months ending 30th September 1999. It achieved a gross premium income of Rs. 339 million compared with Rs. 244 million achieved in the comparative period and recorded a net profit before tax of Rs. 16 million compared with a loss of Rs. 0.29 million as at end September 1998, Company release said.

This creditable performance is yet another milestone in an already impressive record the company is maintaining during its relatively short existence, as the fastest growing insurance company in Sri Lanka. In 1996, the company achieved a record Rs. 200 million turnover, the highest for an insurance company in its first year of operation. In the year 1997, the Company achieved a turnover of Rs. 264 million and a growth of 32%, which enabled it to record a profit in only its second year of operation. The Company achieved a turnover of Rs. 350 Million and recorded a growth of 32% in 1998.

Janashakthi General Insurance Company Ltd. has developed excellent relationships with some of the best reinsurers in the world, and have primarily reinsured with Employers Re. of USA, who stands amongst the world's top 5 reinsurers. The panel of reinsurers of the Company include Tokyo Fire & Marine Insurance Co. Ltd. - Japan, Chiyoda of Japan, GIO-Australia, China re and Zurich Re.

The cumulative credentials of this galaxy of reinsurers is unmatched in the Sri Lankan insurance industry, and is a guarantee of the Company's strength and stability.

HNB share issue fully subscribed

HNB's Rights cum Public Share Issue of Rs. 1.05 billion has been fully subscribed. There have been over 10,000 subscribers to the public issue, from right across the country. This is the largest ever non- voting share issue to come to the market, a bank release said.

With the infusion of this new capital, HNB will have the largest Shareholder Fund base among all the private commercial banks. The fact that the Bank was able to mobilize subscriptions to such a large extent in depressed equity market and under stagnant economic conditions is a clear indication of the confidence the investor public has placed in the future of this Bank.

It is also significant to note that the three major shareholders who had given a commitment in the Prospectus to subscribe for any shortfall, have not been called upon to do so. HNB also did not go for any under-writing arrangements for this share issue.

This new Share issue will, whilst enhancing the liquidity of the HNB share in the market, will also increase the Banking and Financial sector market cap by 4%. HNB has always been enjoying the largest market cap among all the commercial banks with a market cap of over 5% in the CSE.

As reported at the time the Share Issue was announced, HNB is now well poised to play a pivotal role as a strong financial institution in the new millennium.

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