Amidst the crisis of confidence in the Colombo stock market, People’s Leasing Company Ltd.’s (PLC) Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Rs. 7 billion had drawn applications worth Rs. 9.5 billion, prompting analysts to emphasise that there is a big appetite for good value stocks

By Cassandra Mascarenhas With the Sri Lankan economy poised at a historic juncture, the Association of Professional Bankers’ flagship event, the 23rd anniversary convention which was held last week, explored the theme ‘Banking Foresight – Shaping Integrated Development’ in order to determine what role banks will play in public and private development in the economy. ...

After some years of lower sugar production, after this former state company was privatised and came under our ownership, output has improved and we are hopefully on the road to create a sustainable sugar and dairy industry in Sri Lanka that will benefit the generations to come. Yet we have still a long way to ...

Chronicle of Higher Education spotlights Sri Lankan student Tumal When Tumal M, Karunaratne was trying to decide which college in the United States or Britain to attend, the University of Cincinnati stood out. The 20-year-old undergraduate from Colombo, Sri Lanka, was excited about its engineering and cooperative-education programs, And Cincinnati offered him $12,000 a year ...

Expolanka Holdings PLC said yesterday it has sustained its consolidated NPAT for the first half of FY 2011/12 at Rs. 668 m, with a consolidated NPBT at Rs. 862 m. These results have been achieved against the backdrop of the many challenges faced by the Group in the international trading sector with its global economic ...

Following is the address delivered by Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugama at the fourth South Asia Economic Summit (SAES IV) Plenary Session: In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, there has been a noticeable shift in economic clout, moving

Occupy Wall Street, occupy the London Stock ExchangeThe frustrations caused to the unemployed, the poor and the marginalised by the international and national economic crisis has spilled out onto the streets in the capital cities of the world’s leading and emerging economies. It has spread

DNH Financial Ltd. last week said that corporate earnings released so far look impressive but the bourse has not performed compared to strong earnings generation. The broking firm also suggests time is right for investors to go bottom fishing. Here are excerpts from DNH’s Weekly Report: The Colombo bourse ended the week on a relatively ...

By Cassandra Mascarenhas The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Sri Lanka (CILT) concluded their annual International Conference yesterday, held at the Ceylon Continental, which explored the theme ‘Success of Delivery,’ together with a diverse panel of local and international speakers covering a broad range of industries who deliberated on success stories from Sri Lanka ...

Reuters: Rajat Gupta, who sat on the boards of some of America’s most prestigious companies, was arrested and charged on Wednesday with being the “illegal eyes and ears” for his friend Raj Rajaratnam, the central figure in a broad U.S. crackdown on insider trading at hedge funds. Gupta, 62, a former director of Goldman Sachs ...

Recently, eminent public voices have resonated with opinions regarding the state of the Sri Lankan economy and related monetary and fiscal policies, often branding it as overhyped and lacking clear focus. While respecting diverse opinions and encouraging debate in a healthy democracy such as ours, it is fair to point out that amidst trying global ...

Sri Lanka Economic Association Conference – Key takes at the inauguration By Dinali Goonewardene The Government in addition to domestic constraints faces a series of external and global constraints and the Sri Lanka Economic Association at its annual sessions from 13-14 October 2011 discussed this under the theme ‘Achieving National Economic Goals Amidst Global Challenges’. ...

In the midst of the turmoil in international financial markets and national economies, Sovereign Wealth Funds are coming into closer focus. For the first time since the breakout of the financial crisis, the financial mandarins of China intervened to shore up confidence in the country’

Representatives of 28 members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) including Sri Lanka met in Bangkok on 11 and 12 October to discuss Asia-Pacific perspectives on the agenda of the G20 summit to be held in Cannes, France, on 3 and 4 November 2011. Central Bank of ...

Analysts upbeat new valuation will spur fresh buyingProving Daily FT’s concerns right, the Colombo stock market yesterday crashed to its lowest level in 2011, but a chorus is growing that new valuation will spur a fresh round of buying with some already collecting available quantities. The benchmark All Share Index (ASI) dipped by 1% or ...

Professionals are shy to raise critical issues in public!It is believed that the single focus advocacy proposal of the Joint Chambers of Commerce and Industry for the Budget 2012 to address is the continuing high priority of enhancing the ‘ease of doing business in Sri Lanka’. A president of a chamber holds a publicly articulated ...

Market’s rapid slide threatens to make the month year's worst ever with Rs. 116 b wiped off in value already ASI 24 points short of sinking to 2011’s lowest level Analysts say institutional and retail investors need to be optimistic and return to market on a buying mood October is special for the capital markets ...

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU Ravinatha Aryasinha has said the timing of the screening of the film ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ at the European Parliament this week was particularly sinister, coming on the eve of the presentation of the LLRC Report due next month. The Ambassador said: “It would appear that ...

Global banking giant HSBC is upbeat on Sri Lanka’s external trade, predicting exponential growth above global average over the next 15 years. In its October 2011 dated HSBC Trade Connections Trade Forecast Quarterly Update, HSBC said Sri Lanka’s external trade would grow in volume terms by 105% by 2025 and value wise by 83% to ...

With a focus on uplifting the business environment of the country through strengthened internal systems and procedures, the Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL Bank) is taking advantage of the improved economic climate to provide a wide array of corporate finance activities. Among these are Project Financing for startup companies, business expansions and business acquisitions ...

Arguably the world’s most powerful leader, Barak Obama, underscored that the Eurozone crisis is “scaring the world”. It comes as no surprise then that his Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner heads the international clamour for more action to solve the burgeoning sovereign debt

Growth assets are a good investment in the current climate Felix Stephen is the Manager Investment Strategy and Research at Advance Asset Management Ltd., Sydney, aapart of Westpac, which is one of the big four banks in Australia. He spoke to the Daily FT about the global economy and investment, the climate in Europe, the ...

A COLLEGE drop out and global genius is dead. Steve Jobs was a very private person, eccentric and brash. He was fired from the company he founded Apple and was brought back to resurrect it and make it one of the most valuable and admired companies on earth, its stock earlier this year the most ...

HSBC Chief Economist in region forecasts 6.8% growth in 2012, lower from 8.1% estimate for 2011; lists global recession hitting exports, inflows and upward pressure on inflation as key risksDescribing that the world was at present running in two speeds with risks, a top regional economist last week declared that Sri Lanka remained resilient though ...

MP charges that Government is focusing only on physical infrastructure and adopting a top-down development approach instead of a more inclusive and participatory humane political futureUnited National Party Parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne asserts that the Government is depleting the resources of the municipality on an election extravaganza. In a candid interview with the Daily FT, the ...

Accelerated by global meltdown largely and partly due to Sri Lanka’s failure to remain a credible case for investment, net foreign selling at the Colombo bourse has now topped the Rs. 17 billion mark year to date. The Rs. 17 billion mark was crossed this week whilst at end September the figure was Rs. 16.96 ...

In the latest figures available, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) last week reported that the preliminary figures for international visitor arrivals into Asia/Pacific destinations1 for July 2011 show a year-on-year increase of 7%. Director of the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre John Koldowski PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre notes that the growth rate has become more ...

By Cheranka Mendis People’s Leasing, the undisputed market leader in the industry for nine years, is going for a record profit this year having achieved a profit of Rs. 2.2 billion within the first five months of the year. CEO of People’s Leasing D.P. Kumarage told the Daily FT that the company, with a net ...

More inflows into service, capital, financial accounts, says CB Rupee was under pressure due to heavy imports in Aug., Sept. Currency dealers wary on rupee stability By Shihar Aneez Reuters: Pressure on Sri Lanka’s rupee currency will recede in coming months due to increasing inflows into the country’s service, capital and financial accounts, the Central ...

By Catherine Weerakkody Hatton National Bank Managing Director and Chairman Asian Banks Association (ABA) Rajendra Theagarajah says the ABA plays a critical role by stimulating high level regional networking, developing policy advocacy initiatives and strengthening the regional voice in global economic forums. Following are excerpts of an interview: Q: What role does the ABA play ...