Biz Briefs

Chandula, ABA Advisor

The Asian Bankers Association has appointed the Chairman of Banking With The Poor Network (BWTP- Asia), and Asian Expert on Financial Inclusion, Chandula Abeywickrema, as its Special Advisor on Financial Inclusion.

The Asian Bankers Association is the largest Asian Commercial Bank network consisting of 100 leading banks spread over 25 Asia-Pacific countries.

ABA was set up as the Asian Bank Network in 1981, to provide a venue for exchange of views and information on banking opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mobitel mCash partners with Abans

Mobitel has partnered with Abans PLC to provide customers an opportunity to deposit money, pay utility bills, insurance premia and leasing payments via mCash, at all Abans showrooms islandwide.

mCash will be available at all Abans showrooms for Mobitel and non-Mobitel customers to provide everyone the opportunity to experience the best benefits offered through mCash.

mCash is an all-in-one effective service that allows the convenience of payments to multiple partnering companies through the mobile phone.

Free wi-fi zones at trade centres

Wi-fi zones will be set up at trade centres under the 1,000 wi-fi zones project throughout the island.

An ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) official said that the free wi-fi facility will be set up at all dedicated economic centres. The free facility is already in place at the dedicated economic centre in Narahenpita, Tripoli trade centre in Maradana and the floating market in Pettah.

According to the official, the facility will to be set up at the Beruwala Pattakade gem fair within the next few days.

Providing free wi-fi facility in trade centres will be a great help to sellers and buyers to carry out business activities in an efficient manner.

Blue Mountain Group wins award

The Blue Mountain Group, recently received recognition at the Asia Pacific Property Awards Summit (APPAS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently.

Blue Mountain was awarded the Five-Star Award in the 'Property Consultancy Marketing' category for its innovation on the concept of gated community living. Blue Mountain was also one of the first Sri Lankan real estate companies to achieve a nomination for the International Property Awards in December.

Group Chairman, Blue Mountain, Dr. Hiran Hettiarachchi received the award on behalf of the management team, at the APPAS presentation ceremony which was attended by leading property development professionals from the Asia Pacific region.

Cold Stores PBT up 70 percent

The consolidated recurring PBT for the financial year 2014/15 at Rs.2.13 billion is a 70 percent increase over the recurring PBT of Rs.1.26 billion in the previous year. The recurring profits attributable to the equity holders of the parent increased by 63 percent over the previous financial year to Rs. 929 million.

The consolidated profit before tax (PBT) for the financial year 2014/15 of Rs.2.15 billion was a 39 percent increase over the Rs.1.55 billion recorded in the previous financial year, while the profits attributable to the equity holders of the parent increased by 25 percent to Rs.1.53 billion.

The consolidated revenue for the financial year 2014/15 was Rs.27.70 billion, an increase of 17 percent over the Rs.23.61 billion recorded in the previous financial year.