First-ever tourism coffee table book launched

Sri Lanka’s first coffee table book on tourism, authored by former Tourism Chief and present Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Nalaka Godahewa, was launched yesterday in a colourful ceremony attended by government ministers, ministry secretaries, hoteliers and key private sector officials.

Stocks at 3 - month low on high rates; rupee up

Sri Lankan stocks slipped to a three-month low yesterday in thin volume as high interest rates weighed on sentiment with investors shunning risky assets and moving in to highyielding government securities.

Bank of Ceylon amongst top 1,000 global banks

Sri Lanka’s state-owned banking giant has been ranked amongst the top 1,000 banks in the world, by the world’s premier banking and finance magazine, ‘The Banker’, the 73-year old bank said.

Allaince Finance raises Rs.1bn via debentures

Alliance Finance Company PLC has been able to successfully raise Rs.1 billion through a debenture issue for the purpose of increasing its Tier II capital and liquidity position, a statement by the Managers to the issue said

AVIVA NDB Health Insurance wins silver award at Effie 2012

At the Effie Awards Night 2012 held recently, AVIVA NDB Insurance became the only insurer to win an Effie for the second year in a row.  AVIVA NDB received a coveted Silver Effie for health insurance.

Founder of Auerbach Grayson dies at 70

Jonathan Auerbach, who explored new frontiers for investors as co-founder of Auerbach Grayson & Co., a brokerage that specializes in international trading, has died at 70, Bloomberg newswire reported

F&V export growth to narrow in 2012

Sri Lanka’s fruit and vegetable (F&V) export ear nings growth is expected to be restrained to around 3% to 5% in 2012 amidst economic downturn, international competition, exchange fluctuation and export produce shortages, an industry official said.

GDP poised for 7.2% growth next year

Sri Lanka’s GDP is set to grow at 7.2% over the course of 2013, according to Standard Chartered Bank projections.

Why pension, provident funds should invest in capital markets?

Pension funds may be defined as institutional investors, which collect, pool and invest funds contributed by sponsors and beneficiaries to provide for future pension entitlements of beneficiaries (Davis 2000).

Surviving in times of crisis - Business strategy, tactics always go together

Last week, we dealt about the implementation of business strategy. Same day, a reader who was a marketing executive asked me a question which led me to believe he didn’t know the difference between strategy and tactics.

YoY inflation rises to 9.5% in November

Sri Lanka's year-on-year inflation rate in November rose to 9.5% against 8.9% a month ago, according to data released on Friday by the Department of Census and Statistics.

Seylan to issue debentures

The board of directors of Seylan Bank PLC informed the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) today the decision to proceed with a public issue of 10,000,000 (ten million) Unsecured Subordinated Redeemable Five year Debentures with a par value of Rs.100 each to raise Rs.1,000,000,000 (One billion) with an option to issue a further ten million of the said debentures  in the event of an oversubscription.

Software Piracy...Is the risk worth it?

Last week the police raided a financial institution, which they say, was suspected of using pirated software.   In the process they confiscated...

Etihad to operate daily flights to Colombo

Etihad Airways, the national airline of United Arab Emirates is to opearte daily flights to Colombo from January 2, 2013 amidst growing demand, the airline said in a statement

MAS to set up US$70mn automated knitting plant

Sri Lanka’s apparel major, MAS Holdings is to make the biggest single investment in the history of its operations, as the firm is planning to set up US $ 70 million automated knitting plant, a press statement by the country’s investment promotion agency said

Vehicle registrations, container volumes dip

Vehicle registration in September fell 44.8 percent from a year earlier to 26,427, amidst registration of motor cars, goods and transport and dual purpose vehicles falling sharply, the latest data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka showed.

Singapore strike reflects dual strains

A rare protest over wages in Singapore by a group of bus drivers recruited from China has caused a public stir, highlighting the city-state’s heavy reliance on migrant workers as tensions rise over the influx of foreign labour, The Wall Street Journal said.

Governance Heritage and Sustainability

I attended the above book launch on 15 November 2012 at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute in Colombo. It was significant that this august gathering consisted of retired public servants, academicians and diplomats and professionals of the past.

Loss-making SOES: Impact on people, employees & political leadership

Recent media headlines have featured large losses incurred by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). CPC, CEB, SLTB and Sri Lankan Airlines/Mihin Air have all recorded unsustainable losses. A very large share of these losses, particularly those of the CPC, CEB and SLTB, can be attributed to pricing policies that do not reflect costs.

T-bill yields up

The Treasuries yield rose across all maturities at the auction held yesterday where the government sold 23.6 billion in Treasury bills

Indian tea industry makes major moves on quality side

The Indian tea industry has adopted a comprehensive plan to upgrade quality and increase production to meet the growing domestic and overseas demand, The Economic Times reported.

Balanced outlook for global oil palm industry

In recent years, many countries around the world have been tapping renewable resources to secure stable sources of energy. This tendency has been spurred by high fossil fuel prices, rising demand for energy and increasing concerns about the implications of fossil fuels on global climate (FAO).

Softlogic clinches Mothercare franchise

International baby-product retailer Mothercare, opened its first store in Sri Lanka through a franchise partnership agreement with Softlogic group this week.

Stocks slip on high rates; turnover at 5-month low

Sri Lankan stocks ended weaker on Monday with turnover slumping to a near five-month low as high interest rates sapped investor appetite for risky assets while many investors were away from the market ahead of a holiday.

Government debt continues to rise

The total government debt as at end of August 2012 stood Rs.6249 billion against Rs.5059.1 billion reported in the same period of 2011, amidst rising domestic and foreign debt, the latest data released by the central Bank showed.

Industry Minister calls for further Japanese investments

As Lanka-Japan bilateral trade has crossed the huge $ 1.2 bn mark in 2011, the country is inviting top league Japanese private investments for ‘strong win-win partnerships’.

EPF recovery should be from liquidator – CA rules

The Court of Appeal held that in the case of a recovery of Employees’ Provident Fund dues, from a Company under liquidation, that the Commissioner General of Labour must seek to recover the same from the Liquidator of the Company and not from its Directors.

It’s the interest, stupid! Why bankers rule the world

In the 2012 edition of Occupy Money released last week, Professor Margrit Kennedy writes that a stunning 35% to 40% of everything we buy goes to interest. This interest goes to bankers, financiers, and bondholders, who take a 35% to 40% cut of our GDP.

Surviving in times of crisis - Challenges in developing, implementing business strategy

The term ‘business strategy’ has many definitions but my favourite is by Johnson and Scholes in Exploring Corporate Strategy. They said, “Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term,

Benefits of long time horizons in stock market investing

“Always invest in the long term” is the mantra employed by Warren Buffett, the most famous long-term equity investor, who is a living testament to the potential benefits of thinking long term.