Financial Times

HNB treasury records sharp profit in 1H 2003
HNB, which arguably runs one of the largest and most diversified treasury operations in Sri Lanka, has shown sharp profits of Rs. 249 million in first half 2003 from exchange related activities with Rs. 130 million coming through inter-bank trading.

The bank said it registered a massive profits growth of 230 percent in the same period. The bank's bond trading desk led by Dudeepa Ratwatte, Chief Manager - Treasury, capitalised on the reducing interest rate outlook in Sri Lanka, making timely trading decisions during this period, said Senior Deputy General Manager - Treasury, Gamini Karunaratne. HNB Treasury is forecasting interest rates to further ease in the next year, with a reduction in inflation. Inflation is forecast to be around 6.25 percent by year-end. Karunaratne said while actively trading in 5 and 6-year bonds in order to maximize profits, the bank felt comfortable in holding bonds of these duration.

He said HNB had created a niche in the bond market and made a name for itself as a market maker "thus, in this sort of market if you capitalize on your strengths then you make the difference".

When asked what strategies would be adopted in the event of a rate rise, he noted that the bank has a portfolio which is at a high yield and that the bank would take a decision as and when they see things turning around in the country. For now, fundamentals support a further bullish trend in the market and we are confident of riding this wave further. Our accounting treatment has also been set out in a prudent manner, allocating a profit buffer as a loss provision and this strategy gives us ample cover if things go against us overnight."

Officials said HNB is also one of the largest exporters of bank notes to Singapore while its traders on the bullion desk deals actively in gold and silver hedged by Futures and Options. They are due to be further trained by an experienced banker from Australia next month.

Last week the treasury division moved from its Janadhipathi Mawatha office to a spacious and tastefully designed dealing room located on the 11th Level of the HNB Towers.

Talk to your staff often, urges top trainer
A top corporate sector trainer last week urged corporate leaders to talk to their staff more regularly noting that in an environment where IT is fast taking over people's lives, human relationships were extremely important to motivate workers.

Nalin Jayasuriya, Managing Director/CEO of McQuire Rens and Jones (Pvt) Ltd, told the monthly meeting of The Sunday Times Business Club at the Trans Asia Hotel that people shouldn't be enslaved by computers and forget face-to-face contact.
"Don't lose touch with your staff … with your workforce. Machines can't motivate man … people can."

In an enjoyable presentation on "Losing the Human Touch", Jayasuriya - who has trained senior managers in the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Dubai and the Maldives - dealt with a range of issues relating to the rapid deterioration of face-to-face contact between superiors and their staff, the increase in communication between one another by machines (computers) and how computers would take over the lifestyles of people.
What about the future? "The biggest problem in the future would be managing your leisure time from once being under pressure.

With easy-to-eat meals (probably tablets or pills for breakfast), working from home instead of commuting to work and other technological advances that makes life easy, having so much leisure time and managing it would be the future," was his advice.

Jayasuriya said people are so dependant on coputers that universities - for instance - in China use computers to deliver lectures from lecturers. The lecturer doesn't see the students.

Corporate bosses send appraisal sheets or comments on one's performance on the intra-net (internal networks). There is no face-to-face communication. "How can you motivate people like this?" he asked, citing an example of how a company made losses after its directors stopping talking to staffers or had little time to spend with workers.

"The directors didn't have time to speak to staffers and workers lost interest in their work. There was no motivation to work. People need to talk to each other. Even to find fault with each other you must do it through direct contact … not through a machine," he argued.

Officials from the ICBT campus made a presentation on the Sydney MBA courses being run at this institute which comes under the Ceylinco group. The event was sponsored by the Trans Asia Hotel and co-sponsored by Lion Brewery Ceylon Ltd, makers of Carlsberg.

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