In Brief
Apathy
Sri Lanka Tourism (S.L.T.) needs to be more perceptive about the diverse interests of different tourism markets.
They recently invited a group of Malaysian journalists to promote the island. However, each night, other than the last night of their tour, the Malaysian journalists were treated with Indonesian food at a five star hotel in Colombo.
Only in their last night were they treated with Sri Lankan food.
And when those journalists wanted to see a tea estate, they were taken to Kandy, where they were shown an “unattractive” tea estate, and not one of the better ones found at higher elevations.
A source attached to the tourism industry there told this newspaper that S.L.T. should move away from the “one size fits all” syndrome and instead be more perceptive to the diverse needs of the tourist visiting the island.
Malaysians increasingly travel overseas, both for leisure and for business.
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Yields Increase
Yields at last week’s Treasury (T) Bill primary auction continued to edge-up, with weighted average yields for 91 and 182 day tenures rising by four and three basis points to 7.99% and 8.93% respectively, week on week, while that of the 364 day tenure remained unchanged at 9.46%.
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Sub-Division
Sampath Bank PLC Director Board recently recommended to the shareholders a consolidation and sub-division (splitting) of the existing 68,887,628 ordinary shares of the Company, without any change to its Stated Capital of Rs. 1,581,653,657, subject to obtaining shareholders’ approval at a General Meeting for the said purpose and for the amendments to be made to the Articles of Association in that regard.
The Company would in the first instance consolidate every existing ten shares to one share, which would result in the existing 68,887,628 shares being reduced to 6,888,762 shares and thereupon subdivide every one share so consolidated into eleven shares which would result in 6,888,762 Shares (resulting from the consolidation) being sub-divided into 75,776,390 shares.
Upon the aforesaid consolidation and subdivision, the resulting number of shares would be 75,776,390. Shareholders would in effect receive one share for every ten shares held by them.
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P.a.t. up 25%
Hemas Holdings PLC in the quarter ended December 31, 2009 saw profits grow by 24.5% year on year (y.o.y.) to Rs. 247 million. Profits in the nine months ended December 31, 2009 marginally dipped by 1.5% y.o.y. to Rs. 565 million.
Revenue in that nine month period declined by 4.5% y.o.y. to Rs. 11.3 billion.
“With the upsurge in tourist arrivals, the steady buildup of hospital volumes and the ongoing momentum of F.M.C.G. and Pharma sales, we expect to end the year on a positive note,” director/ Chief Executive Officer Husein Esufally in his review said.
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Reopens
Lahugala and Kumana wildlife sanctuaries situated near Arugambay, reopened to visitors recently.
Kumana, a bird sanctuary and a main eco-tourism attraction, borders Yala National Park while Lahugala lies 318 km. east of the capital city.
The Wild Life Conservation Department and the Forest Department are preparing to open all of the 20 national parks in the island to the public by April this year. (Sri Lanka Tourism)
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Highest Airport
The world’s highest airport (altitude 4,436 metres) will be built in Nagqu Prefecture, about 300 km from Lhasa, said officials of the Tibetan Branch of the China Civil Aviation Administration.
The three-year construction project will begin in 2011 and cost $263 million. Nagqu Prefecture has a population of 400,000, reports Xinhua, and is expected to become the centre of an economic hub in the region.
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Earnings up 103%
Hotel Sigiriya PLC in the third quarter (3Q) ended December 31. 2009 saw earnings increase by 103.48% year on year (y.o.y.) to Rs. 0.15 million. “Growth in revenue coupled with cost savings improved earnings.”
The company in the nine months ended December 31. 2009 however saw losses increase by 57.33% y.o.y. to Rs. 6.39 million. (Source: John Keells Stockbrokers)
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Top three
Amba Research announced that it has been ranked amongst the top three investment research K.P.O. (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) vendors in the annual Black Book of Outsourcing (B.B.O.) survey 2009.
The survey covers areas such as trust, training, delivery excellence, scalability, data security and other areas that clients take into consideration when engaging with an outsourcing partner.
Over 70 companies, including six of the top 15 global asset managers and six of the top 15 global investment banks use Amba.
It was founded in 2003 by senior directors of research from Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan. Amba has offices in New York, London, Singapore, Bangalore, Colombo and San José (Costa Rica).
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Solutions
hSenid Mobile, a mobile solution provider, will be launching their latest products, mChoiceTM Soltura-a “community” VAS platform and mChoiceTM Vishma-an open source appl store at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
hSenid Mobile, a Sri Lankan company, has a clientele that includes Mobile One (Singapore), DSTCom (Brunei), Dialog, Hutch, Mobitel, Suntel, Tigo, Airtel (Sri Lanka), Sampath Bank, Santander Bank (Spain), Seylan Bank, Telcel (Mexico) and TODO1 (Florida, USA).
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Highest..
Nagqu Dagring will be Tibet’s sixth airport. The civil aviation network in Tibet has taken shape, said officials; the next objective is to open direct air routes from Tibet to south Asian countries. (Washington Aviation Summary)
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CNN Promo
CNN is collaborating with Sri Lanka tourism on their travel campaign to showcase the “best” the country has to offer, an official said. CNN International’s S.E. Asia Sales Director Junji Sumitani was speaking on the occasion of the launch of a website by CNN to promote the island as a destination, globally, this month. (Sri Lanka Tourism)
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Health issues
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper ordered a study on effects of biofuel production amid reports in other countries that such facilities are responsible for new air- and water-related and human health problems. Saying the action does not presuppose harmful effects or change the government’s commitment to renewable fuels, Environment Canada noted that not enough is known about potential harm from biofuel production. (Washington Aviation Summary)
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Insurance
Life Insurance Week” initiated by Ceylinco Life will be observed from February 11-17. Ceylinco Life Deputy Chairman R. Renganathan said, “The first step to obtaining protection through life insurance is understanding its necessity and importance. An interactive activity on a national scale like Life Insurance Week has been found to be an effective method to educate the public and to build public confidence in life insurance.”
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P.a.t. Up 212%
Serendib Hotels PLC in the 3Q ended December 31. 2009 saw earnings increase by 211.73% y.o.y. to Rs. 10.13 million. “Higher arrivals boosted revenue and profits.” The company in the nine months ended December 31. 2009 however saw losses increase by 89.85% y.o.y. to Rs. 3.42 million. (Source: John Keells Stockbrokers)
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P.a.t. Increases 213%
Stafford Hotels PLC in the 3Q ended December 31. 2009 saw earnings increase by 212.65% y.o.y. to Rs. 13.23 million. “Higher revenue increased earnings despite lower margins.”
The company in the nine months ended December 31. 2009 saw profits increase by 83.76% y.o.y. to Rs. 28.93 million. (Source: John Keells Stockbrokers)
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Congratulations
“The Indo Lanka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (I.L.C.C.I.) led by its President Mano Selvanathan congratulated President Mahinda Rajapaksa on his resounding victory at the recent election.
The I.L.C.C.I. which was established to promote trade and investment relations with India, says that it sees a positive future in increasing Sri Lanka’s economy under the leadership of Rajapaksa, with potential to further increasing trade with “our closest
largest market, India.” I.L.C.C.I. is also confident that higher investments too from India would be a greater possibility as re-election of the incumbent President would be positively viewed as stability being established and continued.
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Inflation 6.5%
Inflation as measured by the point to point change in the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index increased by two percentage points to 6.5% last month over that of 4.5% recorded in December.
The annual average change in inflation during this period however declined by 0.3 percentage points to 3.1%.
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Rs. 1 bn. Illegal fags
Seventy nine million confiscated illegal cigarettes to the value of Rs. one billion ensured a higher revenue base for the Government from Ceylon Tobacco Company (C.T.C.) at end 2009.
C.T.C. contributed Rs. 52.4 billion to the Government in 2009. Levies, duties and taxes grew to Rs. 49.3 billion as a result of excise-led price increases and an improved brand mix. Provincial Council Tax grew to Rs. 3.1 billion.
Sales volume declined relative to 2008 due to the higher excise-led price increases and lower consumer affordability. C.T.C.’s profit after tax for 2009 was Rs. 4,115 million benefiting from productivity gains and aggressive cost management initiatives, significantly reducing operating expenses.
The Company’s revenue and contribution to Government taxes and levies benefited from law enforcement to minimise the presence of counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes in the country. With a persistent drive by the authorities, 1,890 seizures were made in 2009, resulting in the confiscation of 79 million sticks of counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes valued at over Rs. one billion. This was more than double that of 2008.
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Cancer Detection
Nawaloka Hospitals PLC (N.H.P.) has taken a step towards detecting malignant breast cancer tumours by introducing Sri Lanka’s first Ultrasound Elasticity Imagining machine, which has the ability to differentiate between benign and malignant growths.
Women can now allegedly avoid breast biopsies with this technique known as Elasticity Imaging or Elastography, which measures the elastic properties of tissue by exploiting the basic characteristic of malignant (cancerous) tumours being harder in terms of mass when compared with benign (non cancerous) tumours. In a technique similar to the ultrasound scan, ultrasound images are taken to measure tissue stiffness and hard growths are separated from soft growths, “painlessly.”
An N.H.P. official said, “We can now decrease the biopsy rate in benign growths. Also, most women ‘dread’ having mammograms, ‘though they realize the need for them.
Breast biopsies are even more painful-even with minimally invasive techniques, the doctor must guide a needle to the spot to identify the lump before inserting small blades to obtain sample tissue. In actual fact 80% of growths turn out to be benign or non cancerous.”
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10,000 Plane-Wildlife Accidents
According to an Associated Press analysis of government data, reports of airplanes hitting wildlife exceeded 10,000 last year, for the first time since
F.A.A. began keeping records of the strikes. In the first seven months at least eight people died and six were hurt. At least 57 cases caused serious damage
and three in which planes and a corporate helicopter were destroyed, including the US Airways Airbus A320 that landed in the Hudson last January after hitting a flock of Canada geese (all passengers and crew survived).
Meanwhile Seattle-Tacoma is the first U.S. airport to deploy a new advanced bird tracking system with real-time displays of bird activity on and around the airport.
The technology will allow wildlife management staff to access live data as they patrol the airfield to minimize bird hazards.
Sea-Tac has been the demonstration site for avian radar research since 2007; two avian radars are installed on an airport office building and one on the airfield. Through the F.A.A. designated Centre of Excellence for Airport Technology at Illinois University.
The latest programme milestone builds on equipment from Accipiter Radar, which provides geographic displays of bird activity on Google EarthMaps. (Washington Aviation Summary).
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