Ceybank funds up 52% in 2001
Ceybank Century Growth Fund and Ceybank Unit Trust have recorded a 52 percent
growth last year, far outpacing the All Share Index movement of 39 percent,
the fund and the trust said in a joint statement.
"The out-performance in 2001 was possible due to a more aggressive growth-oriented
investment stance taken by the Fund Managers, guided by members of our
Investment Advisor Panel and the Board who have a wealth of experience
in global business and finance," said Chitra Sathkumara, CEO/ Executive
Director of the Unit Trust Management Co (Pvt) Ltd (UTMCL).
Ceybank Century Growth Fund is an equity fund with the objective of
providing capital growth in the medium to long term by mainly investing
in companies listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange. The fund could invest
up to 90% in equity whilst maintaining the balance in short term cash equipment
for liquidity purposes. "We buy on market downturns and over reaction to
bad news and sell on up markets. We believe in going against the herd and
picking stocks at bargain prices. The Fund focuses mainly on high market
cap liquid blue chips along with limited allocation to small cap growth
stocks, but is cautious not to be excessive considering the lack of depth
in the Colombo bourse. Our experience is that obtaining the right price
when it is the time to exit, is generally problematic," noted Rachini Rajapaksa,
Senior Fund Manager, UTMCL.
eRUNWAY vice president on Colombo visit
Hariharan Murthy, eRUNWAY's Executive Vice President and head of worldwide
sales, visited the company's Colombo and Hyderabad offices late last month
to "role out the new sales and company messaging", a statement said.
eRUNWAY said the company's new messaging is, 'The fusion of product
development, best practices, global collaboration and delivery excellence
through process maturity'.
The company's strongpoint is its high degree of delivery excellence
and extensive service offerings like software and application development,
software and application integration, software quality assurance, software
enhancement and porting services.
Murthy comes to eRUNWAY from Infosys where he was worldwide business
head of the communication and product services practice and a member of
its management council.
CEB urges consumers to conserve power
By Hiran Senewiratne
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has launched an action plan to help
domestic and industrial consumers reduce the use of electricity by arranging
low cost loans to enable them to buy energy saving equipment.
''Domestic and industrial users are the biggest consumers of electricity.
They may not be able to use energy efficiently due to the lack of funds
to implement energy efficiency measures and lack of knowledge about the
benefits of such measures and where such services could be obtained,''
CEB Deputy General Manager, Bandula S. Tilakasena said.
The DFCC Bank and the National Development Bank were offering loans
at an interest rate of 12 percent which can be repaid in 20-30 months,
he said. These loans would be to buy equipment and get the support of energy
services companies.
The main reason for introducing such a management plan was to educate
the public on the importance of controlling energy loss as a way of reducing
electricity bills as well as to cut down the CEB's power generation, he
told a recent seminar in Biyagama meant for free trade zone companies.
Industrialists and domestic consumers can get the support of energy services
companies which help put in place energy saving measures, Tilakasena said.
Apart from switching off unnecessary lamps, air-conditioners and neon
lights, illuminated signboards, industries can resume their own power generation,
he added.
This new method, known as Demand-Side Management, would help guard against
waste, he said.
Tilakasena said the CEB has targeted sectors such as industry, hotels
and large commercial buildings as well as the retail sector in which to
introduce this system. CEB Engineer (Industrial Sector), Ronald .F. Comester
said that the installation of capacitors could help reduce electricity
bills by 7-11 percent as well as the loss during transmission.
SLT helps Central Finance with solutions
Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) recently signed an agreement with Central Finance
Company Ltd, a firm with a long and illustrious record as a leading financial
institution in this country, to develop a communications network for the
latter.
Commenting on the agreement, Managing Director of Central Finance Co
Ltd, Eranjith Wijenaike. said they were thankful to the SLT for providing
efficient and meaningful solutions to suit their requirements and that
the agreements will ensure a effective and efficient service to over 60,000
customers. "We chose SLT because we wanted to offer the best to our customers,"
he added, according to an SLT press release.
"Being the national telecom service provider with its far reaching network,
SLT will bear all the communication needs of Central Finance Company -
from voice to data to internet services, not only in the city, but also
in far away locations," noted Shuhei Anan, Chief Executive Officer of the
SLT.
The agreement entrusts the SLT with the responsibility of developing
the infrastructure to maintain a communications network between the company
head office in Kandy, the city office in Colombo and its islandwide network
of 15 branches.
Umbrella industry seeks duty concessions
Umbrella maker Rainco (Pvt) Ltd is seeking duty reductions on imports of
ancillary equipment used in the manufacture of umbrellas in order to expand
its business, its chief executive officer Hilmy Sulaiman said.
The company hopes the government will provide these duty concessions
in the forthcoming budget, he said at a ceremony to mark the award of the
SLS 1207 certification from the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI).
The award will help create a good brand, he said, adding that Rainco
is looking to venture into export markets very soon. The company says it
has a 40 percent market share locally. Sri Lanka needs 10,000 umbrellas
per month, he said, adding that about 75 percent of the country's female
population consider an umbrella a necessity.
"This certification is an endorsement of quality and it will improve
our market opportunities," he said. Rainco has been in the business for
25 years. It has a workforce of 600 and contributes largely to the rural
economy of the country with its five factories at Kadugannawa, Danthure,
Mawenella, Dehiwala and Dipitiya, he said.
SLSI director general, C.D.R.A. Jaya-wardena, said the SLSI certification
is an important third party confirmation of quality for the company. He
also said that setting local standards on products and certifying them
enables companies to gain advantages over their competitors.
Modern Agri Lab from ITS
Intertek Testing Services Lanka (Pvt) Ltd (ITS) is launching its state-of-the-art
agriculture laboratory on Monday.
A long felt need for agriculture exports from this country, the laboratory
will test tea, water, fertilizer, etc. The new facility will be opened
by Milinda Moragoda, Minister for Economic Reforms, Science and Technology,
together with John Notman Watt, General Manager for ITS International operation.
ITS has invested in a Rs. 15 million state-of-art laboratory which is
equipped with sophisticated electronic equipment and managed by technically
competent internationally trained staff. ITS is one of the oldest and largest
companies in the inspection and testing business and provides its services
to all types of industries from petroleum to tea. ITS is backed by a wide
international network consisting of over 500 offices and 245 laboratories
in 98 countries, which provide testing, inspection and certification services.
The group employs more than 10,400 professionals around the world.
In Sri Lanka, ITS has been involved with many industries for inspection,
testing and certification services with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation
being a top customer. ITS was established in the early 1980s and known
as Colag Inspection Services until 1999. The local joint venture partner,
the Mercantile Merchant Bank Group has a 40 percent stake in the company.
Book on bravery, courage of our security forces
Book launch
Since 1983 the Government of Sri Lanka have been fighting a ruthless
war to safeguard the independence, unity, sovereignty and the territorial
integrity of our Motherland. Thousands of our young soldiers, sailors,
airmen and policemen have paid the supreme sacrifice towards this end.
Many important and historic battles have taken place during the last
18 years.
A book in the context of our civil war titled 'Assignment Peace: In
the Name of the Motherland (Volume ]) authored by L.M.H.Mendis who has
followed the war since 1990 will be published in Sri Lanka shortly.
The son of a retired Navy officer, L.M.H.Mendis who is just 23 years
of age feels that it is because of the yeoman service rendered by the soldiers
that we the lucky lot are able to continue our day to day lives. It is
to appreciate the bravery and the courage of our security forces that he
has written this valued book with 64 pages in A4 size.
Volume I is written with preference being given to battles and military
operations conducted in the Jaffna Peninsula from 1995 to 2001.
Reference is given to Operation Leap Forward, Operation Riviresa, the
Battle for Elephant Pass, Operation Kiniheera etc.
The Foreword is written by Mr.T.D.S.A.Dissanayaka who himself is an
author and a retired Ambassador who introduces the young new author to
the readers in Sri Lanka. As stated above this book marketed at Rs. 160/=
is duly dedicated to the 'unknown soldiers' who has made the supreme secriflce
in the defence of our beloved Motherland.
This book which will be launched shortly will be marketed by four of
Sri Lanka's best booksellers vis a vis Lake House Bookshop, Vijitha Yapa
Bookshop, Sarasavi Bookshop and Bookland. lt is believed that readers in
Sri Lanka will read this historic book and appreciate the service rendered
by our patriotic sons of the soil even as we prepare for Peace negotiations.
Another unique move by Touchwood
Initial Public offering of ordinary shares of Touchwood Investments Ltd.
opened on February 6, 2002 a press release said. Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka
Limited will act as Managers to the issue.
This IPO is unique in many ways. TIL is the pioneer Nature Investments
Company to be listed in the C.S. E. It is also the first IPO to reach the
market since new listing rules introduced by CSE and the first IPO for
the year 2002. 800,000 ordinary shares of TIL will be offered to the public
at par value of LKR 10/- per share and total of 2.23 million ordinary shares
are planned to be quoted on the CSE.
TIL is the pioneer BOI approved company marketing and managing investments
in Mahogany Plantations.
Investments in Mahogany have been well accepted by the public as a perfect
retirement and child plan and also a worthwhile investment for corporates
who have long-term liabilities.
Already over Rs.40 million have been invested by the public in Mahogany
& over 30,000 Mahogany trees been planted by the company.
Launch of this IPO was held in Colombo at The Lanka Oberoi recently
well attended by a gathering comprising Stock Brokers, Bankers and other
officials.
TIL Management Team and members of MBSL managing the issue briefed the
gathering with regard to the issue. MBSL is expecting an over subscription
prior to closing date which has been scheduled for 25th February 2002.
NDB Housing Bank offers host of benefits to Home-builders
Since its launch in May 2001 as the first specialized housing bank to be
set up in the private sector, NDB Housing Bank Limited. (NHBL) has been
playing an active role in developing the housing finance market and contributing
to the growth of housing stock in the country a press release said.
A joint vanture partnership between the National Development Bank, HDFC
(India's No. I retail housing finance company and IFC (a member of the
World Bank group), the housing bank has drawn heavily on the experiences
of its international partners, and now offers a range of tailor made housing
finance products to both the retail and corporate sectors.
In keeping with NHBL's promise of easing the burden on the house-builder,
the Bank has finalised agreements with reputed suppliers to provide products
and services ranging from key building materials to turnkey building solutions
and insurance services.
Among the reputed organizations that have formed alliances with the
Bank are: Eagle Insurance Co.Ltd., Holcim (Lanka) Ltd (formerly Puttalam
Cement), Asian Paints (Lanka) Pvt. Ltd., Rhino Roofing Products Ltd., Royal
Ceramic Lanka Ltd., Ind Sri Steel Corportation, St. Anthony's Industries
Group, Mascons Mesh Industries (Pvt.) Ltd., Tudawe Brothers and Samuel
Sons and Co.Ltd.
Some of the key benefits the house builder would enjoy as a result of
this arrangement are, special price discounts on building materials, free
inspection and installation, unique colour matching on paints, access to
ISO and SLS quality approved products, in-house insurance services, and
turnkey building construction from design to C-o-C.
Making this announcement to the market Mr. Faizal Salieh, CEO of NDB
Housing Bank said "We are now in a position to offer total housing solutions
to our customers and help them cut through the trials and hassle of house
building. The alliances we have formed will provide cost reductions and
other real benefits to our customers and add value to our business transactions.
We are not just another housing finance institution. We are much more than
that. We will make your home happen." |
