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| Sunday, 21 September 2003 |
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SLT to increase investment in Mobitel The Board of Directors of Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd (SLT) has approved an increase in its investment in equity of Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd, its wholly-owned subsidiary, by the purchase of a further 50 million shares of Rs 10 each. This decision was arrived at in terms of Section 9.1(v)9 of the Colombo Stock Exchange Listing Rules during a recent meeting. They also decided to convert the interest free loan given by SLT, of Rs 138,116,400, to equity at Rs 10 per share, bringing the total additional investment in Mobitel to Rs 638,116,400. This course of action was decided by the Board to help Mobitel expand its GSM 1800 network. Pilot project to improve plastic industry The National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) with the Plastics Sector Task Force commenced a pilot project to improve the competitiveness in the sector by focusing on materials utilisation and energy efficiency. It is expected to yield a 30 per cent cost saving in the industry. Under the project, 14 companies have been selected, of which five will serve as demonstration companies to share the experience of implementing cleaner production systems with others. According to plastic industry sources, materials and energy constitute over 70 per cent of the industry's cost of production. Therefore, savings in these areas will give substantial cost advantages. The project is targeting Small and Medium Enterprises. NCPC, a UNIDO project of the Ministry of Enterprise Development, trained 25 cleaner production auditors from the plastic industry. The project is currently underway and will be completed by end-October. The demonstration companies will make a presentation of the findings of the audit and the expected benefits at a symposium to be held in November. Rs. 262m final dividend for Govt. from SriLankan SriLankan Airlines has declared a final dividend of 10 per cent for the year ended March 31, 2003. Its largest shareholder, the Government of Sri Lanka, will be paid Rs. 262 million. This is the third occasion on which the airline is paying its shareholders a dividend. The Government holds 51.05 per cent of the issued capital of the airline, while Emirates Airline holds 43.63 per cent and the airline's staff holds 5.32 per cent. For the year ended March 31, 2003, SriLankan recorded a net profit of Rs. 1,329.2 million against the background of an airline industry still wrecked by problems related to September 11, 2001. The SriLankan group's (the airline and its subsidiary SriLankan Catering Pvt. Ltd) net profit was Rs. 2,197.23 million during the year under review. |
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