ADB says committed to help develop Lanka’s capital market

The Asian Devel-opment Bank (ADB) on Tuesday expressed its willingness to help implement reforms to make Sri Lanka’s capital market vibrant and a catalyst to further economic progress in Sri Lanka.
“We are committed to helping implement the capital market reforms to promote the development of equity and debt markets,” ADB Country Director Rita O’Sullivan told a capital markets conference organised by UTO EduConsult Ltd.

Aitken Spence printing first to be LEED (Gold) certified

Industry leader Aitken Spence printing’s state-of-the-art new printing facility was awarded the LEED (Gold) certification recently, making it the first in this Region and the one of the very few of its kind the world to receive the international benchmark for leadership in energy and environmental design.

SMS usage set to fall in Asian markets as smart phones grow WhatsApp

Asian mobile operators are likely to see sharp falls in short message service (SMS) revenues as subscribers shift to services like WhatsApp which allow unlimited texting, an economic research consultancy has said.

"As a testament of SMS's rapidly declining popularity in developed countries, Hong Kong's Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) reported a drastic decrease in the number of messages sent and received on January 1 2013," a report by Business Monitor International, a UK based consultancy said."This, coupled with WhatsApp's claim that it processed 18bn messages on December 31 2012, highlights the need for mobile operators to devise new strategies to counter the threat of over-the-top (OTT) service providers."

How John Lewis keeps making so much money

John Lewis had its best ever Christmas in 2012. In fact it had its best ever week too – with sales smashing through £150 million for the first time.

Over the week before Christmas takings at its 39 stores and website hit £157.8 million, a 26.5% increase on the same week in 2011.

Pregnant Kim Kardashian rubbishes claims baby is for publicity

It's fair to say Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have had a fair bit of attention since they announced on New Year's Eve that they were expecting a baby.

Kim Kardashian has rubbished claims the baby is for publicity. Copyright [Rex]

But faced with online accusations from cynics it's all part of a money-making plan, reality TV star Kim Kardashian has rubbished claims she's having her baby for publicity.

Novice unearths huge gold nugget Down Under

An amateur prospector has made the find of a lifetime in southern Australia, unearthing a gold nugget weighing about five kilograms (11 pounds) just outside the town of Ballarat, reports said.

The Y-shaped deposit was found with a hand-held metal detector at a depth of a little over 60 centimetres (24 inches), according to a video of the find posted on YouTube.

"The prospector said it sounded like the bonnet of a car through the headphones," wrote TroyAurum, who uploaded the video.

Dhammika appointed Honorary Consul of Republic of Senegal

The President of the Republic of Senegal Macky Sall has appointed Dhammika Perera as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Senegal in Sri Lanka, recently. The appointment has been approved by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Renowned for his business acumen, Perera has commercial interests in a wide range of sectors including banking and financial services, power and energy, leisure, manufacturing and diversified holdings.

Sri Lanka Chief Justice remains in office: lawyers grouping

Sri Lanka's Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayaka remains in office, a group of lawyers has said, while her own reaction to a presidential order sacking her is not yet known.

Bandaranayake has rejected a last minute offer by the administration to retire with full benefits, Sri Lanka's The Islandnewspaper said.

Sri Lanka's bank credit to business, state grows in November

Sri Lanka's commercial banks loaned 24.1 billion rupees to business in November 2012, with the state also borrowing another 18.8 billion rupees, official data showed.

Credit to private business rose 20.7 percent to 2,348.5 billion rupees in November 2012 from a year earlier, Central Bank data showed.

Sri Lanka EDEX exhibition to showcase career paths

Sri Lanka's EDEX 2013 exposition will showcase career and further education opportunities for school leavers with over 350 employers and educational institutes exhibiting, officials said.

The exhibition will be held from18 to 20 January in Colombo 25 to 26 January in Kandy.

Sri Lanka apparel group takes MillenniumIT communications solution

Sri Lanka's MAS Holdings has adopted a system provided by MillenniumIT and Dialog Axiata for internal communications for its plants and design centres in 41 locations in 10 countries.

Sri Lanka rupee strengthens in early trade

Sri Lanka's rupee gained about against the US dollar in mid morning trade Wednesday to 126.25/55 levels in the spot market on expectations of foreign purchases of rupee bonds, dealers said.

The rupee opened around 127.00/25 levels to the US dollar after closing at 127.15/20 levels Tuesday.Dealers said there was dollar selling on expectations of foreign investor purchases in a bond auction Thursday where 45 billion rupees of gilts are on offer.

Sri Lanka Asiri Central Hospital sold down by PE firm

Actis Investment Holdings SL Ltd, a private equity firm has a sold a 10 percent stake in Asiri Central Hospital Ltd, at the same price that it was acquired last August.

Sri Lanka's largest lender aims for trillion rupee deposit base

Sri Lanka's state-run Bank of Ceylon, the country's largest commercial bank by assets is aiming for a trillion rupees in deposits, newly appointed general manager D M Gunasekara said.
"We reached the target of a trillion rupees in assets last year ahead of schedule," he said after taking over duties Tuesday.

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