Altair awards construction contract to Dubai giant Shapoorji Pallonji

The $ 3 billion construction giant Shapoorji Pallonji, whose contributions to the skylines of planet earth include India’s tallest residential towers – the Imperial of Mumbai – and several skyscrapers of Dubai, has been appointed the main contractor for Sri Lanka’s Altair residential twin tower in Colombo.

The contract awarded to Shapoorji Pallonji International operating out of Dubai, covers construction of the foundations, superstructure and civil works and overseeing finishes for the unique diagrid-supported towers of Altair; a 63-storied tower leaning into a 240 metre, 68-storied vertical tower that will be the centrepiece of South Asia’s first promenade development, on the lake front of the Beira.
Construction of the 400 luxury apartment development designed by the international celebrity architect Moshe Safdie is to be completed in 2017.

Alumex comes with Rs. 839 m IPO

Hayleys Plc subsidiary Alumex Ltd., has announced a Rs. 839 million Initial Public Offering as part of listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange.
The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has approved in principle an application submitted by Alumex Ltd., for the listing of 59.9 million ordinary voting shares (comprising of an Offer for Subscription tranche of 17.9 million shares and an Offer for Sale tranche of 42 million shares) at Rs.14.00 per share.
The date of the opening of the subscription list is 6 March whilst the investing public can subscribe from 18 February.

Kadapila - Asia-Pacific needs nearly 13,000 new planes by 2032: Boeing

SINGAPORE, February 10, 2014 (AFP) - The Asia-Pacific will require almost 13,000 new airplanes worth $1.9 trillion over the next 20 years, Boeing said Monday, as booming wealth in the region fuels demand for air travel.

Ahead of the Singapore Airshow, the US plane maker said 12,820 extra aircraft would be needed by 2032 and that in the same period the region would account for 36 percent of global commercial deliveries for both passenger and freight.

Outsourcing -let professionals handle your problem

Outsourcing
let professionals handle your problem

Obama says relationship with Putin not icy despite ‘tough guy’ stance

Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin may seek to look like the tough guy in joint appearances with President Barack Obama, but Obama said in an interview that he and Putin have a pragmatic and respectful relationship.
“I wouldn’t call it icy,” Obama said in an interview with NBC host Bob Costas taped on Thursday as part of coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. “He does have a public style where he likes to sit back and look a little bored during the course of joint interviews. My sense is that’s part of his shtick back home politically as wanting to look like the tough guy,” Obama said in the interview, set to air on Friday evening.
“U.S. politicians have a different style. We tend to smile once in a while,” Obama said in excerpts of the interview released by NBC.

Big local names step up buying foreign blocks at Bourse

• Captains invests Rs. 2.2 b more in JKH as Janus sells down; EPF, ETF too joins on the buying side of JKH
• Indra Silva invests Rs. 400 m in increasing stake in COMBank as Franklin Templeton Investment Funds sells; EPF, Ravi Thambiayah, Yaseen collect COMBank quantities
• EPF ups stake in Dialog with Rs. 322 m buying as Morgan Stanley fund sells
• Foreign net selling tops Rs. 3 b last week as part of emerging market sell-off but new funds accumulate blue chips

The Colombo stock market last week saw heavy foreign selling in tandem with other emerging markets, but big local names stepped in to accelerate their buying, reflecting renewed confidence.
Foreign investors ended the week in a net selling position of Rs. 3.06 billion and brought the year-to-date net outflow to over Rs. 2 billion.
This was a reversal or appears to be a temporary setback when compared record inflows enjoyed in 2012 and 2013.
Top blue chip JKH saw net foreign selling of Rs. 2 billion followed by Commercial Bank (Rs. 676 million) and Dialog (Rs. 541 million). Most of the foreign selling was from funds focusing on emerging markets as they had a rocky week overall.
Despite selling by longstanding foreign funds, several new funds were active on the buying side, collecting available quantities of JKH, Commercial and Distilleries among others.
Janus figured in JKH selling over Rs. 2 billion on Thursday whilst the blocks were acquired by Sohli Captain, who is the largest shareholder in the top blue chip. Thursday saw 10.75 million JKH shares change hands for Rs. 2.46 billion.
The Captains controlled around a 17% stake in JKH by end 2013. Janus held a 7.8% stake or 77 million shares.

Kottawa-Kaduwela Expressway to open in March

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa on Saturday inspected the 11km long Kottawa-Kaduwela Expressway scheduled to be opened next month.
It is a section of the Outer Circular Highway (OCH) located in the Colombo Metropolitan Region and passes through Colombo and Gampaha Districts. This highway runs around 20 km away from the city centre of Colombo, connecting radial routes and has a total length of 29.2 km.
The northern end of the highway is located at Kerawalapitiya on the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway.
The southern end is located in Kottawa on the Colombo-Ratnapura-Wellawaya-Batticaloa (A004) road where the Southern Expressway meets OCH.

Cricket: ICC passes controversial revamp despite protests

SINGAPORE, February 8, 2014 (AFP) - Cricket's world body Saturday passed a wide-ranging and controversial shake-up of its governance and structure despite strident protests that it gives too much power to the "Big Three" of India, England and Australia.

The dominant trio seemed to be the big winners after the proposals were approved by the necessary eight out of 10 full members at a hastily convened International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting in Singapore. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa had all opposed the revamp when it was debated last month, but South Africa's Chris Nenzani voted in favour at Saturday's meeting. Sri Lanka and Pakistan abstained.
In the revamped ICC, India -- which contributes 80 percent of global revenues -- and fellow powerhouses England and Australia will have permanent seats on a new, five-member executive committee.

Maruti stops model that revolutionized India's roads

Maruti stops model that revolutionized India's roads

09 Feb, 2014 06:48:38

NEW DELHI, February 8, 2014 (AFP) - India's Maruti Suzuki said Saturday it had halted production of its iconic first small car, the Maruti 800, which revolutionised road transport for millions of Indians.

The boxy, four-seater hatchback -- the first car ever owned by many Indian middle class families -- first rolled off the production line in 1983 and 2.9 million have been sold since, the company said. "We have stopped the M-800 (Maruti 800) production," C.V. Raman, executive director of Maruti Suzuki told reporters at India's premier auto fair in the New Delhi suburb of Greater Noida.
The decision to phase out the Maruti 800, hailed as a triumph of small-car engineering when launched, was taken in 2010.

Pope agrees to Sri Lanka trip, honours Korean martyrs

VATICAN CITY, February 8, 2014 (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday turned his focus to Asia, announcing a possible trip to Sri Lanka and approving the beatification of 124 Korean martyrs.

The beatification ceremony for Paul Yun Ji-chung and his 123 fellow martyrs -- who were killed for their Catholic beliefs between 1791 and 1888 -- will take place in South Korea on August 15, the Vatican said in a statement.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. As Napoleon Hill said, “Within every problem or setback lies the seed of an equal or greater opportunity or benefit.”

Aitken Spence Sri lanka reports robust growth in 3Q

Leading conglomerate Aitken Spence PLC recorded a strong performance in the third quarter, interim results to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) released on Friday revealed.
The blue-chip’s financial results for the three months ended 31 December 2013 saw Profit Before Tax surging by 47% to Rs. 1.58 billion and Profit After Tax surged by 53% to Rs.1.38 billion, while profit attributable to shareholders rose by 54% to Rs. 1.1 billion.
The diversified group’s nine-month results revealed profit-before-tax rising by 10% to Rs. 3.5 billion and profit-after-tax increasing by almost 10% to Rs. 2.9 billion, while profit attributable to shareholders was up by 11.2% to Rs. 2.3 billion, while earnings per share increased by 11.2% to Rs. 5.68 billion.

Nation Lanka Finance strikes Rs. 1.4 b equity deal with GEM

In a major breakthrough for continued success, Nation Lanka Finance Plc said it has entered into an agreement for Rs. 1.4 billion in equity (shares and warrantswith the Global Emerging Markets Group (GEM).
The agreement is with GEM Global Yield Fund LLC SCS, an investment fund of GEM, which is an alternative investment group that handles a diverse set of invest vehicles across the world.

Money market rates drop to over 10-year lows as liquidity surges to 3-year high

By Wealth Trust Securities
As anticipated, liquidity in money markets surged to a three-year high of Rs. 107.16 billion yesterday following a Rs. 53.7 b bond maturity which fell due on 1 February 2014.
In line with this and the non-collateralisation of CBSL’s Standing Deposit Rate (SDR) of 6.50% for excess funds deposited by market participants with effect from February saw interbank call money and Repo rates dip as much as 60 basis points (bp) and 27 bp respectively to average 6.86% and 6.41% (Levels last seen in August 2003) against its last week’s closing weighted averages (WAvgs) of 7.46% and 6.68%.
This in turn saw continuous demand at the shorter end of the yield curve from durations ranging from one month bills to 18 month bonds.

Microsoft names Indian Nadella as new CEO; Gates steps down as Chairman

SEATTLE, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp named company veteran Satya Nadella as its next chief executive officer on Tuesday, ending a longer-than-expected search for a new leader after Steve Ballmer announced his intention to retire in August. Nadella is only the third CEO in Microsoft’s 39-year history, following co-founder Bill Gates and Ballmer. Microsoft also said John Thompson, lead independent director, would succeed Gates as chairman.