Biz Briefs

EU summit: Greek second bailout delayed another week

Greece will not get funds from a second EU/IMF bailout until its private creditors give final approval for their losses next week, EU ministers say. Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Greece had taken all the legal action necessary to get the 130bn euro (£110bn; $175bn) bailout.

But the bailout must await the debt swap with private bondholders on March 8, he said.

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels again to discuss the debt crisis. As the summit got under way UK Prime Minister David Cameron complained that ideas to stimulate economic growth, which he set out recently in a joint letter with 11 other EU leaders, had been ignored.

Grand Hotel a must visit -National Geographic

The National Geographic magazine recognizing Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya as one of the must visit places in Sri Lanka has added tremendous marketing value to the hotel.

This colonial property being a landmark in the hotel industry of Sri Lanka was identified and categorized as a 'national heritage' property by the Department of Archeology of Sri Lanka.

This is in addition to the many accolades received from the immaculate garden such as the Best Garden award under the Large Commercial category for the past three decades, consecutively.

Singapore Airlines raises fuel surcharge

Singapore Airlines (SIA) said Friday it would raise fuel surcharges by up to $28 for each leg of a flight due to high oil prices, a persistent problem that has ravaged airline earnings worldwide.

It blamed "continued high fuel prices" for the hike, which it said would apply to all tickets issued on or after March 8.

It said in a statement that the new fuel surcharge, representing an increase of between $2 and $28 per sector of a flight depending on distance and class of travel, would apply to Singapore Airlines and its regional wing, SilkAir.

The surcharges "will offer only partial relief from the higher operating costs arising from increases in the price of jet fuel," SIA stated, adding that fuel accounted for 40 percent of the group's expenditure.

Changes in Mercantile Investment Board

Mercantile Investments PLC has appointed Saroja Hemakumar Jayawickrema Weerasuriya as the new Non-Executive Chairman of the company. Weerasuriya counts over 32 years experience as a consultant in civil and structural engineering design and project management and has been with the Mercantile Investments Board since January 2011.

The former Chairman and Managing Director, Gerard Ondaatjie continues as Managing Director. Ondaatjie was first appointed to the Board in 1993 and has almost 18 years experience in the financial services sector. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Arizona State University, US.

DFCC Bank best in Risk Management'

DFCC was represented by a team comprising - Senior Vice President Treasury, Ms.Manohari Gunawardhena, Senior Vice President Planning and Plan Implementation, Palitha Gamage, Assistant Vice President Integrated Risk Management, Sanjeewa Fernando and Senior Project Executive Asset and Liability Management, Jayan Fernando at the fifth ALM competition held recently.

DFCC Bank won the award for 'Best in Risk Management' at the fifth Asset and Liability Management (ALM) Competition concluded at The Hague in the Netherlands recently. The competition was jointly sponsored by DEG of Germany, FMO - The Netherlands Development Finance Company, Proparco of France and was conducted by SimArch.

It was conducted in two phases. The first phase, which lasted three months, and was an online exercise. Twenty six banks from diverse emerging nations participated in the first round. Six finalists were invited to The Hague for the final round of the competition.

During the second phase, participants were tested thoroughly on their ability to make sound judgment on the management of a financial institution under different internal and external scenarios.

Hameedia's staff display creative skills

The Nelum Flower (Nelumbian speciosium) was captivating in its shades of blue, magenta and white, as over 1200 members of Hameedia's staff and its partners, were present at the 'Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre' for the Hameedia Talent Show 2012. The chief guest was Managing Director, Fouzul Hameed. Guest of honour was Deputy Managing Director Hussain Sadique. Among the other invitees were SLIM President,Thushara Perera, Prof. Rizvi Sheriff, Madu Ratnayake, Feroze Cader, Dhammika Kalapuge and Prof Sri Kandiah.

New plant by Lankem Chemicals

Lankem Chemicals Ltd., a subsidiary of Lankem Ceylon PLC recently inaugurated its new chemical and thinner plant at Sapugaskanda. This facility consists of an underground petro-chemical storage facility, along with an inter-connected blending and drumming plant, with a project cost of more than Rs. 120 m. With this investment, Lankem becomes the first and only chemical manufacturing company in Sri Lanka to have a facility of this nature, and brings it on par with international standard.

Hayleys Terminates Fitch Ratings services

Hayleys PLC has terminated the services of Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited as its rating agency, effective January 9, 2012.

A statement from the company said RAM Ratings (Lanka) Limited, an Associate of Standard and Poor will be the future rating agency of the Group. Ram Ratings has rated Hayleys PLC AA-/P1.

Atlas with SLIM to develop sales team

Atlas joined SLIM - a premier training body in sales and marketing which has formulated a tailor-made course content that will enable Atlas participants to gain knowledge and develop themselves into professional sales personnel.

SLIM and Atlas exchanged an MoU to ensure the success of this professional training which will be conducted in four stages. The MoU was exchanged between CEO of Atlas, Nirmal Madanayaka and president of SLIM, Thushara Perera.

Chief Operating Officer,Nishantha Hennadige said, " Atlas has always emphasized the importance of being a learning organisation- and is keen to develop its employees to face the future with the correct accomplishment and hence made this timely commitment to its frontliners"