The Nation GAIN: 2010-11-07

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Private Leisure International Enters Sri Lanka

Private Leisure International is now ready to establish its presence in Sri Lanka. To fill up its portfolio, the company is now inviting villa owners to list their villa. However, acceptance is subject to strict quality control.

Focusing itself in providing privacy as the sixth star to 5-star luxury accommodation, Private Leisure International (PLI) has been successfully deliver businesses to villa owners in key Asian tropical destinations such as Bali, Phuket, Lombok, Koh Samui, Krabi, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

Quality control is the key to its success in attracting up-market holiday makers which traditionally is the captive market of 5-star resort hotels, a success which then turns into lucrative business feeder for property owners. By establishing professional management as required by PLI, villa owners are making lucrative income in addition to price gain of their property investment.

Its rapid expansion program is now bringing PLI to Sri Lanka. The company is preparing itself to offer its

holiday rental clients private villa accommodation in the destination blessed with both historic heritage as well as natural beauty. Apparently, the key offerings are similar to other Asian tropical destinations: sea, sand, and sun. But Sri Lanka has even more than those.

Villa owners are invited to list their property in PLI''s portfolio and include them in all relevant online marketing instruments managed by the company. In addition to websites dedicated solely for Sri Lanka villas, the company also manages creative cross-destinations online marketing programs involving hundred of websites.

Running business in multiple destinations allows PLI to enjoy huge cross-destination market directed to villa owners it represent. It is its key distinction that make the company different from local villa rental players.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Colombo under water after record rain

COLOMBO, Thursday 11 November 2010 (AFP) - Floods following the heaviest rains in 18 years brought parts of Sri Lanka's capital to a standstill on Thursday, officials said.

Boats were deployed by the navy to help marooned residents and police said thousands of houses were under water but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Telephones and Internet connections were also downed through lightening damage and the authorities shut most public schools and also cancelled a national examination for school children.

Several vehicles were stuck in flooded streets causing traffic chaos.

The met department said 435 mm (17.12 inches) of rain fell on the capital within 14 hours overnight making it the worst since June 1992, when 497 mm of rain fell.

"Heavy rains are due to intermonsoonal activity and we can expect more rain," met chief G. D. Samarasinghe said.

Sri Lanka depends on monsoon rains for irrigation and power generation but the seasonal downpours frequently cause loss of life and damage to property in low-lying areas.

The island's two main monsoon seasons run from May to September and December to February and rains in between are called inter-monsoon activity.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Leading mobile phone makers lose market share

The Galaxy S from Samsung (right)
and Apple's iPhone 3G,
being demonstrated in South Korea

The world's leading mobile phone makers are losing market share to non-brand manufacturers, according to research. Analysts at Gartner say smaller, Asian companies accounted for a third of worldwide handset sales in July, August and September. Nokia is still the biggest seller of mobiles, followed by Samsung and LG.

Meanwhile, Google's Android operating system has sharply increased its share and is now the second most popular mobile operating system after Symbian.

Rising Sales

Gartner says 417 million phones were sold globally during the period - an increase of 35% from the year before.

All of the large manufacturers, except Apple, lost market share to companies that make handsets without a brand.

Apple leapfrogged Research In Motion, which makes Blackberry, to fourth place.

"White-box manufacturers continued to expand their reach outside of China into markets such as India, Russia, Africa and Latin America," said Carolina Milanesi from Gartner.

"We firmly believe this phenomenon will not be short-lived as we still see a continued need for non-3G devices."

China's Huawei and ZTE increased their share of sales, as did HTC of Taiwan.

The number of phones which use Google's Android operating system has been rising rapidly, challenging established rivals.

Android was on 25% of all phones sold during the period, overtaking Microsoft Windows Mobile and Apple's iOS.

Last year, the equivalent figure was 3.5%.

"Google is maintaining a fast pace," said the Gartner report. "Each version brings new features and polish to Android, and the level of innovation is a major innovator."

Courtesy : BBC

Top mobile phone makers

1. Nokia

2. Samsung

3. LG

4. Apple

5. Research In Motion

Source: Gartner

SRI LANKA CO-HOSTS ICC WORLD CUP 2011

In 2011 Sri Lanka will host the world’s most prestigious event in the cricket calendar, the International Cricket Council World Cup. The games played in February and March will take place in stadiums located in the colonial capital, Colombo, the Southern coastal city of Hambantota and the ancient capital, Kandy. Sri Lanka is currently 2nd in the world cup rankings, closely followed by England in 5th place. As potential favourites to go through to the Quarter and Semi Finals, the England cricket team may have the opportunity to play at one of these venues.

The R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo is the county’s largest cricket ground, which is capable of holding 35,000 cricket fans. The Pallekele Stadium in Kandy is capable of holding 25,000 visitors. The Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Sooriyawewa, Hambantota is being built exclusively for the ICC world cup in order to increase the capacity of Sri Lanka’s stadiums. Sri Lanka will host a total of twelve matches in these three venues raising Sri Lanka’s profile amongst international sport hosts.
In celebration of this event, the Sri Lankan Tourism is planning to offer special promotional packages to cricket lovers. The packages include accommodation and ground transportation including domestic scenic air travel to the matches in Hambantota and Kandy from Colombo for day and extended tours at the visitor’s request. The packages will include stays in the Mahoora Luxury Safari Camps in the wilderness. Guests can also stay in nearby Yala National Park which has the highest concentration of Leopards in the world, only half an hour by car from Hambantota. In these safari camps, guests will experience life in the jungle in a luxury setting with themed evening meals. The newly launched webpage with the ‘Visit Sri Lanka
2011’ branding includes further details of the packages on offer to visitors at http://www.srilanka.travel/cricket.

The island will provide the perfect backdrop to the ICC world cup as cricket is Sri Lanka’s national sport. The world cup which first began in 1975, taking place every four years has had nine editions to date. 2011 is the tenth anniversary of the event which is set to be one of the largest celebrations to date.

Airtel posts $370 Million 2Q profit but misses estimates

Bharti Airtel Ltd., India’s largest mobile-phone operator, reported profit fell 27 percent after the company cut calling rates to compete in the world’s second- largest wireless market.

Second-quarter net income dropped to 16.6 billion rupees ($374 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with 22.6 billion rupees a year earlier, New Delhi-based Bharti said today. That lagged behind the 17.8 billion rupee average of 27 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Bharti, controlled by billionaire Chairman Sunil Mittal, fell in Mumbai trading as intensifying competition with Vodafone Group Plc and Reliance Communications Ltd. drove down monthly phone bills in India by 20 percent. Bharti is expanding into countries including Kenya with the $9 billion purchase of the African assets of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co. to offset slowing growth at home.

“In Africa, the turnaround is going to take a while,” said Naveen Kulkarni, an analyst with MF Global Ltd. in Mumbai. “It will take at least two to three quarters for them to get a foothold there, and to maintain margins.”

Bharti fell 0.9 percent to 331.55 rupees as of 10:55 a.m. in Mumbai trading. The benchmark Sensitive Index, or Sensex, was unchanged. The stock has advanced less than 1 percent this year compared with the Sensex’s 20 percent climb.

African Expansion

Manoj Kohli, chief executive officer of Bharti’s Africa business, plans to invest in expanding new businesses in Nigeria, Gabon, Zambia, Malawi, Niger and Uganda after the company completed its purchase of the African assets of Zain.

The company plans to invest $1.2 billion in the six countries over the next three years, Kohli said in July.

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc. and Norway’s Telenor ASA triggered a price war last year when they entered India with cut-rate plans to win a larger share of a market that is forecast by researcher Gartner Inc. to exceed 993 million users by the end of 2014. India had 671 million mobile-phone accounts in August, according to the phone regulator, lagging behind only China.

Bharti said it had 195 million subscribers across 19 countries as of Sept. 30, according to today’s statement.

Sales rose 47 percent to 152.2 billion rupees. That compared with the 150 billion rupee average of 37 analyst estimates. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, rose 19 percent to 51.2 billion rupees.

“The margins in Africa are still low,” Kohli said. “By the time we reach the next fiscal year we will see improvements.”

Falling Phone Bills

Bharti announced it completed its purchase of the African assets of Zain, as Mobile Telecommunications is known, on June 8. The acquisition gave the company 42 million new subscribers and access to a population of about 450 million across 15 African countries including Ghana and Uganda.

Bharti’s average revenue per user, a key measure of performance in the telecommunications industry, plunged 20 percent in India to 202 rupees a month. That’s cheaper than Bharti’s average phone bill from its Africa operations.

Bharti is rolling out a third-generation wireless network in India this year that will allow it to begin providing faster data services on smartphones this year. The company paid the government 123 billion rupees for permits in 13 of India’s 22 telecommunication zones, and 33 billion rupees in June for licenses to offer wireless broadband service in four regions.

The company also paid $300 million in January for a 70 percent stake in Abu Dhabi-based Warid Telecom Group’s Bangladesh operations and plans to invest $200 million in the next five years in its mobile operations in Sri Lanka.

Confusion over 5 SIMs or 25 SIMS per person?

Despite media reports that said Sri Lanka’s Defense Ministry had limited use of Mobile SIMS to 5 per person an official from country’s telecom regulator said that the rule has only restricted a person to have 5 SIMS per mobile operator in the country.

There are currently 5 mobile operators named Dialog, Mobitel, Etisalat, Airtel and Hutch operating in South Asian island nation having nearly 60% of 21 million population using mobile phones. Sri Lanka is said to be the one of the countries that were offering cheapest mobile tariffs in Asia.

“This means that each person can have 5 SIMS from any operator allowing them to have 25 SIMS per person as there is currently 5 operators in the country” said Telecommunication Regulatory Communication (TRC) Chief Anusha Palpita speaking to Asian Tribune.

He clarified that there are no immediate plans to ban individuals from owning more than five mobile-phone SIM cards, while many were in argue that it was reported earlier that according to a Defense Ministry order that each person in the country is only allowed to have only five SIM cards.

However Defense Ministry had issued a fresh notice earlier in October directing every telecom operator to register their subscribers to prove ownership of their respective SIM cards.

Thus all SIM cards which are not registered by December 31st 2010 would be terminated according to reports.

Under this set up, Sri Lanka will tighten mobile phone regulations by forcing service providers to maintain full details of phone users.

India, Sri Lanka to sign agreement on ferry service soon

India and Sri Lanka would soon sign an agreement to commence ferry service between Tamil Nadu and the island nation, a step towards promoting tourism between the two countries.

"The proposal would go to the Cabinet soon for approval and after that Memorandum of Understanding can be signed for the same," a shipping ministry official told PTI. The ferry service would be from Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu to Colombo in Sri Lanka and Rameswaram to Thalaimannar, respectively.

"It (ferry service) would be for both cargo as well as passenger traffic...but mainly for tourism purpose," the official said, adding that the vessels would come from a private party, but refused to divulge the details.

"The proposal would go to the cabinet soon and the MoU can be expected by December this year," he further added.

The travelling time through the sea from Tuticorin to Colombo is approximately 10 hours and from Rameswaram to Thalaimannar is about three hours.

India currently has cargo operations from the Tuticorin Port to Sri Lanka.

The government is looking at investing about $20.8 billion in 276 projects to expand 13 major ports -- Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Kolkata (with Haldia), Chennai, Visakhapatanam, Cochin,Paradip, New Mangalore, Marmagao, Ennore, Tuticorin and Kandla in the country.

Sri Lanka poised to legalise gambling

Sri Lanka's parliament is set to pass a controversial law to legalise gambling today, which the opposition opposes on the grounds that it will increase prostitution.

The government is rushing through legislation that will empower President Mahinda Rajapakse, who also acts as the minister of finance, to grant licences to set up gambling establishments in specified areas.

Casinos and horse-racing bookies have been operating in Sri Lanka for decades, exploiting loopholes in the law to avoid an official ban on gambling.

The government is now proposing to outlaw gambling outlets completely after 2012 unless they obtain a licence. Violators will be subjected to a fine of 45,000 dollars and a five-year jail term.

The opposition is nevertheless opposed to the bill, saying it will lead to de facto red-light districts because of the association of prostitution and gambling.

The bill is likely to be passed, as the government has a comfortable majority in parliament.

The bill, which will be taken up for debate later Wednesday, aims to "provide for the designation of areas in which persons intending to start the business of gaming can set up their establishments."

Sri Lanka's booming tourism industry is keen to set up more entertainment to attract high-spending fun-seekers. Some casinos in the city are also known as pick-up points for foreign and local prostitutes.

The government has recently banned billboards showing scantily clad women, following protests by Buddhist monks, but the country has a vibrant nightlife.

The number of tourists visiting the island has risen sharply after nearly four decades of ethnic conflict came to an end in May last year.

Sri Lanka move ahead of India in ODI rankings

With the countdown towards the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 reaching the 100-day mark, Sri Lanka have laid down a marker to the other 13 teams by claiming second place in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI championship after a confidence-boosting series win over table-topper Australia.Sri Lanka won the series opener in Melbourne by one wicket and then took an unassailable 2-0 lead by winning the Sydney ODI by 29 runs (D/L method). Australia secured a consolation win in Brisbane where it won by eight wickets.

As such, Sri Lanka's first-ever series win in Australia has earned it three ratings points which has put it one point clear of India on 118 ratings points and 10 points behind number-one ranked Australia which has conceded two ratings points.

India will have the chance to regain the number-two position later this month but to make it happen it will have to win all the five ODIs against New Zealand. That series will start in Guwahati on November 28.

A 5-0 clean sweep will take India to 121 ratings points while a 4-1 series win will put it alongside Sri Lanka on 118 rating points. However, in that case Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side would be placed just behind Kumar Sangakkara's side by a fraction of a ratings point.

Sri Lanka's next ODI commitment is the five-match ODI series against the West Indies which starts in Suriyawewa Stadium in Hambantota on December 9.

Meanwhile, South Africa and Pakistan have retained their pre-series positions after the Proteas won the just-concluded series in the UAE 3-2. South Africa is on 115 ratings points, two ahead of England, while Pakistan is on 100 ratings points and lead New Zealand by four ratings points.

Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship

1 Australia 128

2 Sri Lanka 118

3 India 117

4 South Africa 115

5 England 112

6 Pakistan 100

7 New Zealand 96

8 West Indies 67

9 Bangladesh 67

10 Ireland 39

11 Zimbabwe 37

12 Netherlands 17

13 Kenya 0

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Lankan 'pornographers' outed in police crackdown

The faces of dozens of people accused of appearing in pornographic films, in violation of anti-obscenity laws, have been published by Sri Lankan media.

They appeared in a Sinhala-language paper, with a police notice asking the public to help trace those pictured.

A magistrate had told police to identify and arrest the people, and ordered the publication of the images.

Reports say the alleged porn actors could be fined and sentenced to six months in prison.

The police say that if they can apprehend those in the pictures, that will lead them to the pornography's distributors.

The authorities say pornography leads to sexual crimes, including rape.

Victims or participants?

Photos of 83 people, 80 women and three men, had been released for publication, said a police spokesman, Prishantha Jayakody.

The Lakbima daily newspaper published 27 faces on Tuesday.

Supt Jayakody told the BBC there had been no public response so far to the pictures, which were sourced from a range of Sri Lankan pornographic websites.

"Most of these people are Sri Lankans," said Supt Jayakody. "We know this from their features."

He added that organised crime could have been involved in the distribution of the material, but downplayed the notion that anyone might have appeared in the films against their will.

Asked if he believed some might have been under the threat of violence, Supt Jayakody said that if they came to be questioned, such facts should become clear.

However, a civil rights lawyer, Rohan Edrisinha, said he believed some of those involved might be under-age girls, who should be viewed as "victims" rather than "voluntary participants".

Mr Edrisinha said he feared publication of the photos would have negative implications for privacy and civil liberties.

He said the measure, taken in response to a proliferation in pornographic websites, needed a "careful, measured response".

The news editor of one publication told the BBC they would not publish the pictures because of ethical concerns.

Three months ago authorities sought to block a large number of pornographic sites, saying they were especially concerned about those which might be accessible via mobile phone.

Skyscanner Travel Trends October 2010

Canaries overtake Costa Del Sol as Tenerife knocks Malaga from top spot

For the first time ever since Skyscanner’s Travel Trends began, Malaga has been knocked off its number one position. It was a close call, but the immensely popular Spanish city has been replaced by rival destination Tenerife. Located in the Canary Islands, Tenerife is much further south than Malaga meaning it maintains a pleasant year-round climate, which likely explains its rise in popularity with British travellers as we move into autumn and winter.

In an unprecedented surge, Thailand took the biggest gains within the Top Ten, with searches for flights to Bangkok moving up a massive six places to number four. This is the highest ever position for the Thai capital and a record position for any long haul destination. It seems that the civil unrest earlier this year has done little to impact Thailand’s popularity with British travellers, and the destination has particular appeal with another cold UK winter looming

Dublin and Paris also gained positions; the Irish capital moved up four places, and the French capital rose five.

Top 10 Most Popular Cities

1. Tenerife [+1]

2. Malaga [-1]

3. Alicante [0]

4. Bangkok [+6]

5. London [0]

6. New York [-2]

7. Amsterdam [+1]

8. Dublin [+4]

9. Paris [+5]

10. Faro [-1]

Highest Climbers

Flights to Australia continue their rise in popularity, with both Sydney and Melbourne rising five places each. However, it was Riga (+17), Oslo (+13), Bucharest (+15) and Kuala Lumpur (+13) that saw the biggest increase in interest during October.

Biggest Fallers

It seems the party is now over in Ibiza, with searches to the Balearic island dropping 33 places in the popularity charts. Other summer spots also felt the chill of the off season with Crete in Greece falling 30 places, Valencia 19 and Naples 16.

Drop Outs

Greece and Spain saw the only drop outs this month, with Menorca, Reus, Corfu and Rhodes, all disappearing from the 100 most popular destinations.

New Entries

The Far East saw a significant increase in interest with Manila in the Philippines straight in at number 80, Tokyo in at number 89 and Beijing in a 92. Colombo in Sri Lanka also entered the Top 100 at number 94.

About Skyscanner

Skyscanner is a leading travel search site providing instant online comparisons on flight prices for over 670,000 routes and on over 600 airlines, including flights to Tenerife as well car hire, deals and holidays.

Iran exports $520m technical services to Sri Lanka

TEHRAN – Iran carried out $520 million of technical and engineering services in Sri Lanka, the Iranian Commerce Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said here on Monday.

During his meeting with the Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris, Ghazanfari declared Tehran’s readiness to boost economic cooperation with Colombo, IRNA News Agency reported.

During the meeting the two sides discussed construction of a new oil refinery in Sri Lanka by Iranian experts, exporting Iranian LNG to Colombo, and boosting tourism.

For his part Gamini Lakshman Peiris thanked Iranian experts for carrying out projects in Sri Lanka and called for expansion of economic ties between Tehran and Colombo.

The 9th Joint Economy and Trade Cooperation Committee meeting between Iran and Sri Lanka, was held on 13-15 September.

In the meeting the two countries commerce ministers signed six MOUs and cooperation agreements in the fields of customs, sisterhood between Shahid Rajaei and Colombo ports and acceptance of each other’s maritime certificates.

Also in this meeting agreements were made between the two countries in the fields of science, culture, art and standardization.

An increase in trade, holding international exhibitions, enhancing maritime relations and implementing engineering and technical projects were among other agendas during the meeting.

In April 2008, Iran began work in several infrastructure development projects in Sri Lanka, all part of a $1.5 billion loan to the South Asian island. These projects included doubling the oil refinery capacity of Sri Lanka’s Sapugaskanda refinery as well as building a 100-megawatt hydropower project and irrigation plan in Uma Oya. In June 2009, the country signed a $106 million agreement with an Iranian firm to provide electricity to roughly 1,000 villages in Sri Lanka

Shell to finalise operations

By Jithendra Antonio

Although the Government sealed the agreement on Shell this week by buying back 51 percent of Shell Gas Lanka Ltd. and 100 percent of Shell Terminals Lanka Ltd. (STLL) for US $ 63 million, the actual deal will only be finalised by November 15, a top official said

“Shell and the Government of Sri Lanka hope to complete the deal as soon as possible, and this is expected by November 15,” said outgoing chairman/managing director of Shell Gas Sri Lanka (SGLL), Walter Sanchez, responding to a question by The Bottom Line.

Sanchez, however, declined to say whether the deal is profitable for Royal Dutch Shell PLC for US $ 63 million stating, “This information is commercially sensitive information and cannot be shared.”

He said that since this is a share sale, all staff working for SGLL, STLL will be transferred to the new buyer but under the same terms and conditions.

As to whether Shell would continue to provide its expertise with any assistance to the local management, Sanchez was of the view that Shell believes it has developed a professional, cost efficient LPG business with strong growth opportunities run by a competent and well trained workforce in the country.

However, when The Bottom Line queried about the issue between the Royal Dutch PLC and its existing island wide distributors in the country who were asking for a payout from the Dutch multinational before its exit, Sanchez said that ‘given this is a sale of shares in the company, the contracts between the distributors with the company will remain in place as at completion of the share sale and will continue to be governed in accordance with their terms’.

BoI allays fears over licences

The Board of Investment (BoI) will continue to issue licences during the run-up to the upcoming Budget-2011 despite rumoured otherwise.

It is highly speculated that following the budget, concessions under BoI Act will be strictly limited for thrust sectors or other strategic investments over RS. 500 million.

However, under the provisions of the BoI Act, the government is restricted in retracting concessions already awarded, high ranking official told The Bottom line.

“A crucial meeting was held on Thursday, where it was informed that under regulations relating to BoI, it cannot withdraw concessions nor hold back approvals. The Act is designed to protect investors and their investments from ad-hoc policy decisions. Investors can take legal action if the BoI contravenes these regulations,” he said.

Foreign investments in the country are safeguarded by Investment Protection Agreements (IPAs) signed with 20 odd countries. Sri Lanka’s constitution guarantees the safety of FDIs through these IPAs while Sri Lanka is a founder member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Furthermore, according to Article 157 of the 1978 Constitution, BoI agreements enjoy the force of law while no legislative, executive or administrative action can be taken to contravene the provisions of a bilateral investment agreement otherwise than in the interests of national security, it is leant.

“It was also mentioned that BoI was the only other than the Mahaweli Authority Act, powerful enough to safeguard such contractual interests,”

Asked how budget proposals will be applicable, he said that BoI cannot hold back projects once approved.

“If an investor starts a project either under Section 16 or 17 of the BoI Act, he has to be accorded terms and conditions which are effective on that particular date,”

Recently, issuing a statement, it refuted the notion that the “Board of Investment (BoI) had suspended the acceptance of investment applications for new projects pending the 2011 Budget” and scoffed at “speculation surrounding the continuance of BoI concessions granted”.

“BoI continues to entertain and accept new applications for investments. Priority has however, been given to the processing of investment applications to the thrust sectors that have been identified, namely tourism, agriculture, fisheries and dairy, education and training, IT & BPO, infrastructure and port and aviation related development.”

Reaffirming The Bottom Line lead story carried a fortnight ago, BoI said that the “current emphasis has also been on attracting high value investments in keeping in line with the evolving strategy for investment promotion arising from the newer opportunities of the country with the return of peace and stability.”

“The BoI reassures all investors that all contractual obligations entered with the Board of Investment will continue to be honoured.”

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has meanwhile, ordered a complete revamp of BoI and the updating of the country’s investment laws and regulations, starting with the BoI Act.

Many from the Presidential Commission on Tax to Asian Development Bank (ADB), have been calling for the rationalisation of BoI’s concessions regime while the investor community at large had been advocating a ‘one-stop-shop’ for investors.

Although Sri Lanka had an ambitious target of US $1 billion FDIs for 2010, BoI saw only US $ 208 million flowing into the country during the first six months of 2010. (SF)

CPC to insist on Rs20bn payback

Subsidised fuels: Furnace oil alone incurs Rs780m loss monthly

State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is to request the Treasury to pay back fuel oil subsidy dues running into over rupees twenty billion incurred during the last 24 months.

The Bottom Line learns that a memorandum of cabinet is in the process of being formulated by the Petroleum Resources and Petroleum Resources Development Ministry, appealing either to reimburse losses incurred since November 2008, due to non-payment of subsidy by the Treasury or to set off against taxes due from the CPC.

“The ministry is in the process of calculating the exact amount of losses for the period from 2008 November to 2010 December. In November 2008 the subsidy was withdrawn, and so we have been importing fuel oil at a cost of Rs 52 per litre and selling it to Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) plus other Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for Rs26. Due to this, the CPC made a loss of Rs12bn during 2009,” a high ranking ministry official said.

Following vehement protests by CPC in the wake of global oil prices going up, it received the government green light to increase the price to Rs40, though still short of Rs15. From furnace (fuel) oil sales, CPC lost a staggering Rs780m each month, he added.

“At present, CPC is importing nearly 30m litres (30,000 tonnes) of low-sulphur fuel oil at an average cost of Rs68 and selling it to Kerawalapitya Combined Cycle Power Plant for Rs52. Losing Rs16 a litre we are incurring a staggering Rs480m loss a month. For other thermal power plants, (CEB and IPPs) we are bringing down nearly 20 million litres (20,000 tonnes) of high-sulphur fuel oil at Rs55 and selling at Rs40 a litre. Losing Rs15 a litre, the CPC is burdened with a nearly Rs300m loss each month,” this official said.

Currently, CPC is making a marginal profit from petrol sales while incurring a marginal loss from both kerosene and diesel fuels.

“If this goes on we will never be able to turnaround CPC and it will soon go bankrupt. What’s more, this is not due to our fault but due to the fault of CEB. What they want is to make profits on their part at the cost of CPC.”

Many had been advocating a cost-reflective pricing mechanism devoid of political interference if the country was to make state entities like the CPC viable to contribute to the growth of the country and move towards a global energy hub.

“Except for the Kerawalapitiya agreement, all other contracts with CEB and IPPs have the clause that CPC will sell fuel at ‘CPC’s retail price or government-decided price’. This is where all troubles begin. Sri Lanka can never become an energy hub if you don’t make CPC profitable. Privatisation is unnecessary, but you need to have an unwavering cost-based pricing system,” this official added.

BSkyB reaches target of 10 million customers

British Sky Broadcasting has reached its target of 10 million customers. As of 30 September, the pay-TV operator had a total of 10 million customers, including 3.15 million Sky+ HD customers, 2.80 million Sky Broadband and 2.55 million Sky Talk customers.

Tune Hotels to welcome 2011 with 2 New Hotels

12 sen promotional rate for all Tune Hotels in Malaysia
Petaling Jaya, 09 November 2010 – To cater to the increasing demands and travel needs from tourists and business travellers, Tune Hotels has opened booking for its 2 new hotels in Bintulu, Sarawak that is slated for opening on 3 January 2011, and Kota Bharu, Kelantan that will open for business on 23 January 2011.
To celebrate the opening of the 2 brand new hotels, Tune Hotels is offering rooms from as low as 12 sen (RM0.12) for its Malaysian hotels; from Rp12,000 for its Bali hotels and from GBP25 for its London hotel.
The low rates are applicable for stay periods from 1 September – 30 November 2011 for all Tune Hotels’ existing hotels. For the new hotel in Bintulu promotional stay periods are from 3 January – 30 November 2011 while for Kota Bharu it is from 23 January – 30 November 2011.
Guests are able to book this low rate from 9 – 20 November 2010 which is available exclusively online on www.tunehotels.com.
Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels, says: “Increasing the number of our hotels reiterates our commitment to increasing our network of hotels to have 100 hotels in major cities globally providing 5-star beds at incredible value and affordability. The introduction of the 101-room Bintulu hotel and 173 room Kota Bharu hotel will further add value to savvy travelers, both business and tourists alike, who are keen to adopt the pay-as-you-use concept we provide and for us to serve more people in our home of Malaysia.”

“2011 is the start of a great new year for us and our guests. We’ve kept focused on ensuring that we remain true to our guests and deliver great new hotels in great central locations at great prices. Kota Bharu and Bintulu are really exciting for us as one is the first Tune Hotel in Kelantan and the other is our second Tune Hotel in Sarawak.”

The opening of Bintulu and Kota Bharu brings Tune Hotels’ number of operating properties in Malaysia to 9, and 12 globally. Tune Hotels’ existing hotels in Malaysia are located in Kuala Lumpur, KLIA-LCCT Airport, Kota Damansara, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu; Kuta and Legian in Bali, Indonesia and one in London, England.

Since Tune Hotels was first launched in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2007, more than 900,000 guests have stayed in one of its properties, currently totalling 10 hotels located in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, KLIA-LCCT Airport, Penang, Danga Bay, Johor and Kota Damansara in Malaysia, Kuta – Bali and Double Six, Legian - Bali in Indonesia and London in United Kingdom.

SLT reaches 200,000 ADSL Broadband customer milestone

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the nation’s number one integrated telecommunications service provider and the leading broadband services provider in the country is proud to announce that 200,000 Sri Lankan homes and businesses (including entrepreneurs, small, medium & large organizations) now access broadband services via ADSL 2+ technology on SLT’s island wide Broadband network. This achievement represents more than 70% of Sri Lanka’s total broadband consumer base and over 20% of SLT Megaline (PSTN/wireline) telephone customer base.

The company has succeeded in achieving its target for the year 2010 ahead of time, mainly due to the recently concluded island-wide broadband campaign, “SLT Broadband Twenty20 Promotion”.
Mr. P.E. D. A. Silva of PULASTIGAMA (situated in Polonnaruwa District), was the 200,000th customer to be connected with SLT Broadband services. The SLT broadband service was already activated for him by enabling broadband access through the Entrée package.
This attractive broadband promotional campaign was SLT’s response to the huge demand for ADSL broadband services that has arisen from all parts of the country and is also an attempt by the company to popularize broadband services among all Sri Lankans by providing them access to information and entertainment contents whenever they want. During year 2010, a total of 80,000 new customers got connected with SLT Broadband services for High-speed internet and IPTV (PeoTV) services. Customers have benefitted greatly from ADSL broadband due to its ALWAYS ON connection, higher speed, reliability and uninterrupted service provided by wireline with benefits of cost savings and affordability. The ability to make and receive calls simultaneously while browsing the internet are among the great values it offers. Furthermore, through SLT Broadband, customers receive access to multiple services of voice, broadband internet & TV/multimedia and all other benefits through a single wireline connection. SLT started offering IPTV through its broadband platform in year 2008 and has succeeded in covering almost all the provinces in the country.
Customers have the freedom and flexibility to choose from a wide selection of broadband plans at affordable prices to meet their individual needs. Services include downstream speeds of up to 4 Mbps for SLT Broadband internet customers. For customers with a wireline home/business telephone, SLT provides a broadband connection starting at Rs. 500/= per month without a connection fee. SLT Broadband services provides high speed internet access (downstream) through seven different packages: Entrée (512Kbps - Volume based), Home (512Kbps - Unlimited), Xcite (1Mbps - Unlimited), Office (2Mbps - Unlimited), Office 1IP (2Mbps – Unlimited, 1Static IP), Xcel (4Mbps - Unlimited) and Xcel 1IP (4Mbps – Unlimited, 1Static IP). The Entrée package has a huge demand and is considered as the internet surfers’ initial choice. Office, Office 1IP, Xcel and Xcel 1IP packages have been especially designed to suit the requirements of small and medium sized enterprises. The popularity of Wi-Fi (wireless internet zones) services in home and office environments also has grown tremendously. Customers prefer to access information using their Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, laptops, netbooks and other devices that provides them greater freedom easily. Therefore customers can decide to have a wireless ADSL modem or router at their home or office to create a wireless internet zone at any time if they have an ADSL broadband connection.
SLT Broadband uniquely offers its customers unparalleled services coupled with the unmatched reliability and robustness provided by its superior wireline technology, ADSL/ADSL 2+. With the range of different broadband internet packages on offer, SLT customers can enjoy a host of value added services such as VoIP services, IPTV, Time Shift TV (TSTV), Video on Demand (VoD), e-learning as well as gaming. The company’s IPTV (SLT PeoTV) services are pioneering IP based TV broadcasting services in Sri Lanka.
SLT has continuously carried out its broadband rollout throughout the island to cater to the broadband demand of the company’s valuable consumers. During this year, SLT has expanded and upgraded its broadband infrastructure by reaching areas away from main cities like; Hingurana, Pottuvil, Uhana (in AMPARA), Badalkumbura, Bibila, Mahiyanganaya (in BADULLA), Dummalasooriya, Kalpitiya, Palavi, Udappu (in CHILAW), Beliaththa, Walasmulla, Weeraketiya (in HAMBANTOTA), Chavakachcheri, Kilinochchi, Kopay, Manipai, Shithankarni (in JAFFNA), Bopitiya, Gonagalpura, Megahatenna, Moragahahena (in KALUTARA), Akkareipattu, Thirukkovil (in KALMUNAI), Walawela, Udasgiriya, Pallepola (in MATALE), Hanguranketha, Hatharaliyadda, Galaha, Medawela, Rikilagaskada (in KANDY), Ambanpitiya, Hiriwadunna, Ganethenna, Molagoda, Kotiyakumbura, Randiwela, Undugoda, Uthuwankanda, Uyanwatte (in KEGALLE), Dambadeniya, Digampitiya, Galgamuwa, Mahawa, Melsiripura, Narampola, Bandarakoswatta, Ingaradaula, Kandanegedara, Kobeigane (in KURUNEGALE), Ayagama, Kalawana, Nivitigala, Rakwana (in RATNAPURA), Kanthale, Medirigiriya, Wathumulla, Buttala …....etc..
These has brought about numerous infrastructure developments including laying fibre optic cables, copper network expansion, upgrade exchange capacities, add more switching capacities, copper line quality improvements and ISP bandwidth upgrades among many others.
SLT expanded its fibre optic information superhighway to the Northern Peninsula in Sri Lanka very recently, as part of its continuing network investment to support the growing demand for communication services, following the end of the conflict. Quick deployment of the Broadband infrastructure in the Northern Peninsula has provided the company with great opportunities to serve the newly opened up markets of the Northern and Eastern provinces., This fibre optic cable project connects Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Jaffna along the A9 main road. In addition new telephone exchanges at Mankulam and Mulathivu, located in the Northern part of Sri Lanka, will enhance basic communication facilities and Broadband coverage for customers in the areas.

Gold climbs to all-time highs above $1,400/oz

Gold powered to an all-time high above $1,400 an ounce on Monday, despite a bounce in the dollar, as investors sought an inflation hedge from the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying programme.

Gold has risen almost 6 percent since just before the Federal Reserve detailed its plans last Wednesday to buy $600 billion worth of Treasuries to revive the economy.

Palladium rose 3 percent to break above $700 an ounce for the first time since April 2001, and silver also gained 3 percent to its third consecutive 30-year high on the back of speculative buying after gold's midday rally.

"As long as (investors) feel like there is no other recourse except buying precious metals, gold is going to keep going up," said Miguel Perez-Santalla, vice president of sales at Heraeus Precious Metals Management.

In early trade, gold looked set to drop following its largest two-day gain in a year at the end of last week, but remained near record highs even as the dollar rallied against the euro on renewed budget problems in Ireland.

Spot gold rose 0.8 percent to $1,406.10 an ounce at 12:31 p.m. EST (1731 GMT), after setting a record at $1,407. U.S. December gold futures climbed $7.30 an ounce at $1,405.

Underlying support helped lift the metal after comments from World Bank president Robert Zoellick in the Financial Times calling for leading economies to consider readopting a modified global gold standard to guide currency movements, although most analysts deemed it unrealistic.

"Gold could potentially play a small role in the overall framework, but I don't think we are in a position to go back to a gold standard," said commodities strategist Nic Brown of Natixis.

"The world economy has moved too far from there and it would need to be one that was built around a more inclusive range of currencies," he said.

Zoellick called for a system that "is likely to need to involve the dollar, the euro, the yen, the pound and (yuan) that moves towards internationalization and then an open capital account."

"I can imagine what he meant was asset inflation as measured by the gold price should be an indicator that should be considered by the central banks when they make their interest-rate decisions," said LBBW analyst Thorsten Proettel. The consensus among precious metals analysts was that the gold market is also simply too small to absorb such demand.

"Unlike the World Bank, we do not believe that a form of the gold standard will return. Very simply, there is not enough gold supply in the world for the metal to perform in this role," said Edel Tully, precious metals strategist at UBS.

Evidence of a cooling in investor interest in gold put the price under pressure earlier in the session, with holdings of gold in the SPRD Gold Trust falling.

Silver hit a fresh 30-year peak at $27.63 an ounce and traded up 3.2 percent at $27.47 an ounce, and palladium surged 3.4 percent to $710.72, up for a fourth day in a row, while platinum eased 0.1 percent at $1,764.49 an ounce, marking a second successive day of declines. (Reuters)

Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)