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| Sunday, 11 May 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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New look SLT bills Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) launched its new customised bill format at a media conference on May 7. The new bill format aims to be more customer-friendly and tamper-proof, thus enabling SLT to provide its customers with quality and efficiency in all areas of service. This is yet another step in SLT's efforts to provide its customers with the best possible service. The new bill format will be more educative to the public and will help reduce any queries and misconceptions the public may have about the bills. With the new system, the customer is assured privacy and the structure is more user-friendly. Another feature of the new bill format is that it ensures complete security of data. The bill is issued in two sizes according to the particular call details. The smaller bill, which will be sent to domestic customers contains charges for national calls and the bigger bill (A4 sized bill) consists only of IDD call details. The manpower and time used in the production of this bill format is very minimal, thus saving time and cost. This is also the first time that SLT outsourced the printing of its bills to a private company, Toppan Forms (Pvt) Ltd, which uses high technology in the printing of these bills. (PJ) Commercial Bank debentures, preference shares oversubscribed The Commercial Bank issues of two billion rupees worth of unsecured, subordinated redeemable debentures and Rs 500 million worth of cumulative, redeemable preference shares were oversubscribed on the opening day. The initial issue of debentures was oversubscribed on the first day of the official opening, and at the time of closure on May 6, had been oversubscribed by Rs 220 million. The initial issue of preference shares too was oversubscribed by more than a further Rs 530 million. The bank claimed this to be the highest subscription that a debenture or preference shares issue in Sri Lanka has hitherto received on the opening day. The bank would accommodate the excess subscriptions for the debentures under the option available as per the prospectus instead of pro-rating the allotments. However, in the case of preference shares, the similar option available too is insufficient to accommodate the total subscriptions. Therefore, the bank is compelled to work out a basis of allotment of shares. BSS solution for SriLankan Airlines Business Solution Systems (BSS) recently signed an agreement with SriLankan Alrlines on the successful completion and hand-over of its HP Open View installation of the airline. This project was awarded to BSS after a competitive bid among many leading ICT vendors in Sri Lanka. The key criteria for the airline to award this project to BSS were its in-house technical competency and previous experience in installing similar solutions within its local customer base. BSS deployed the HP Open View Network Node Management module and is the largest Open View operation in Sri Lanka. This solution enables the networks and communications team of SriLankan to remotely manage and monitor their ICT infrastructure within their global network from Katunayake and Colombo. BSS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Precision Tech Services (PTS) and was incorporated in 1996 to channel the company's integrated solutions business. PTS and BSS are member companies of the Seven Seas Group. BSS provides 'meaningful and cost effective solutions' to government and corporate organisations in the areas of connectivity, interfacing applications and professional services. The Seven Seas Group is a premier IT end-to-end solutions provider headquartered in Dubai. Tea plucking made easier The Phoenix green leaf plucking basket, designed by Phoenix Injection Moulding Ltd for the tea industry, won a President's Award at this year's Star Awards of the Sri Lanka Institute of Packaging. This lightweight injection-moulded polypropylene basket is designed and developed by Phoenix as an alternative to the wicker baskets and woven bags which are currently used. The reusable inner nylon mesh bag is replaced once the bag is filled. Initial trials in plantations have indicated a 30 per cent increase in crop yield. At 1.35 kg, the Phoenix basket is lighter than wicker baskets (2-2-5 kg) and its five to six kilo capacity is significantly higher. The ergonomic design of the basket is said to eliminate health problems and disabilities associated with the former method. The product has a three-year lifetime. It has been developed and perfected to the requirements of the plantations with continuous inputs from tea estates, research institutes and universities. Ceylinco Securities' net profits rise by 92% Ceylinco Securities and Financial Services Ltd (CSFSL) has achieved excellent progress in the financial year ended March 31, 2003, with substantially improved profits. It has recorded a turnover of Rs. 2.38 billion and a net profit of Rs. 81.5 million for this period. This is a six per cent growth in turnover and a 92 per cent growth in net profit over the same period last year. Earnings Per Share rose to Rs. 2.82 from Rs. 1.16 and Net Assets Per Share increased to 24.13 from 21.30 during this year. The primary contribution for this performance stemmed from fund-based activities such as leasing and property development. The company's rate of growth and profitability are above the industry average, CSFSL said in a news release. The company has eight branches, which enabled it to increase fund-based activities significantly. It will concentrate on setting up more branches in the rural sector to tap outstation businesses in the future. During the year under review, all divisions and subsidiaries of CSFSL performed well. The CSFSL Group now consists of Asian Finance Ltd, Ceylinco Developers Ltd, Ceylinco Stock Brokers (Pvt) Ltd, CSF Money Broking Company Ltd, Ceylinco Land Exchange (Pvt) Limited and Ceylinco Foliage Exports Ltd. Ceylinco Developers has performed the best. It has almost completed a mass housing project in Athurugiriya and already purchased lands in Ja-ela and Piliyandala to do similar projects in the future. |
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