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| Sunday, 22 June 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Five-year debentures from LB Finance LB Finance Ltd. has announced a debenture issue with a five-year maturity option, which will open on June 25. Since being listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, LB Finance has recorded a 356 per cent growth in deposits, illustrating the customer confidence in the company which is among the top three finance companies in Sri Lanka, a news release said. The company's first debenture issue will offer 100,000 unsecured subordinated redeemable five-year unlisted debentures at a par value of Rs. 1000 each."The increase in customer confidence over the years has created a rapidly growing deposit base. As with all other financial institutions, we too are required to increase the capital adequacy ratio, to keep up with expansion," Mano Alles, Managing Director LB Finance said. She believes that while fulfilling a mandatory requirement, the debenture issue will also provide an opportunity for people to share in the company's consistent growth. The company's business portfolio includes, in addition to its strong deposit base, leasing, pawn broking and real estate. Tea market weakens A sharp decline in buyer interest was witnessed for liquoring teas at last week's tea auction. A small range of teas from the Below Best category, showed an improvement in cup merit, and such teas received fair price improvements. The balance were neglected, resulting in price declines of Rs. 5 to Rs. 15 with a fair percentage of teas remaining unsold, a John Keells Ltd news release said. At the lower end of the market, the poorest weakened to sell around the Rs. 85 level. The significant erosion in demand appears to be as a result of large amounts of tea coming under the hammer for several weeks, and with most existing orders now completed, buyers were awaiting better product quality to attract fresh orders. Several leading buyers were silent for the greater part of the sale, and this was perhaps the worst auction for liquoring teas in the current year. The top price for Western BOP/BOPFs was an unattractive level of Rs. 170 and Rs. 178 while only a handful of BOP/BOPFs went past the Rs. 150 level. As expected in the Low Grown sale, the demand from Iran weakened after several weeks of forceful buying and the Best Tippy teas dropped by around Rs. 50 while the other flowery grades declined by around Rs. 5 to Rs. 15. There was reasonable demand from other Middle Eastern and CIS countries for other Low Growns with demand from Saudi Arabia and Turkey helping the good leafy teas and Pekoes to sell at firm to dearer rates. SAFA's Golden Jubilee Assembly Colombo will host the 50th Assembly Meeting of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), one of only two apex bodies of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC), next month. The SAFA Assembly, comprising the heads of the eight member associations of the Federation, is the top policy making body for accountancy related matters in the region. Sri Lanka hosted the inaugural meeting of the SAFA Assembly in 1984. Coinciding with this event, the ICASL has organised a high-powered regional conference at which five member nations of SAARC will review their progress towards compliance with International Accounting Standards (IAS), and a separate international workshop by Dr. Paul Pacter, one of the world's foremost authorities on IAS. The two events, scheduled for July 4 and 5, will be attended by local accounting professionals as well as many overseas participants from SAFA member countries, the ICASL announced. They are also open to non-members of the ICASL, and many senior corporate sector executives are expected to attend, the Institute said. The institute expects more than 250 participants at the workshop and seminar, which will be held at the Taj Samudra Hotel in Colombo. 'Emphasis' on PR and promotions Emphasis, a new public relations, event management and promotions company, was launched last month. The company headed by Glenda Parthipan, Managing Director, is about new age thinking, building strong relationships, being professional, looking at the finer details, making ideas a reality and creating lasting impressions. In event management, every aspect of an event, such as product launches, awards ceremonies, conferences, beauty pageants, musical concerts, fashion shows, fund-raising projects, exhibitions and carnivals can be organised by Emphasis so that the client's mind is at ease. Additional facilities include web designing and hosting, television production, sports marketing, artist management, photography and wedding planning. After graduating from the University of Kelaniya in Mass Communications, Economics and French, Parthipan began her six-year career at Phoenix Advertising as an Account Executive where she handled blue chip companies in finance, insurance and real estate. She also obtained a Chartered Institute of Marketing Diploma. She then worked for the Ceylinco Group for seven years in different capacities. As the Communications Manager, she was responsible for launching the first private sector savings bank in Sri Lanka. She was the Executive Director of Aratuwa, the first Sinhalese business newspaper. Dealing with women's issues and micro-credit in rural areas was her duty as Director of Grameen Credit. She also coordinated business chat shows and planned social responsibility and poverty alleviation projects with the Ceylinco Group. |
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