Leopard Sri Lanka Fund to close in Jan 2011

By Azhar Razak

Leopard Capital Sri Lanka, which postponed its self-imposed deadline of launching two funds in Sri Lanka earlier in the year, after failing to raise the required funding, is now targeting to launch one of its funds by early 2011.

According to a top official involved in managing the fund, the private equity Leopard Sri Lanka Fund of US $100, which seeks to buy into unlisted firms, is targeting to kick off in January 2011.

“We are expecting to launch the private equity fund at least by early 2011, possibly somewhere in mid-January,” Leopard Capital Vice Chairman and Managing Partner Nirosh de Silva told The Bottom Line.

Although Leopard Capital Sri Lanka, a joint venture between Orion Capital Partners in Sri Lanka and Leopard Capital of Hong Kong started fundraising for the private equity fund since November last year, the fund was not able to accumulate at least the required minimum funding and therefore was not able not meet its goal of April 2010 to start making investments.

“The delay is because we have were not able to raise the required funding but we are confident that the new deadline for next year is achievable,” Nirosh said admitting that the global recession has been a huge constraint in raising the funds although Sri Lanka has some unique opportunities in the post-war era.

However, he declined to disclose on how much they had raised until now.

The US $100 million Leopard Sri Lanka Fund is to have a lifespan of 10 years, with redemptions allowed only after five years and intends to invest in unlisted companies in Sri Lanka, typically taking minority positions.

According to officials, the fund requires a minimum US $ 60 million to launch and aims to help fund the post-war development of Sri Lanka’s economy by investing in sectors such as tourism, seafood processing, agriculture, healthcare, retail, processed food, property development, financial services, power infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.

When asked about Leopard’s US $ 30m public equity fund known as Sri Lanka Value Fund, de Silva said they would ‘for the moment’ only concentrate on raising capital for the major private equity fund and decide on the other fund afterwards.

Other members of the investment team of the fund apart from de Silva, who is the Managing Partner include Analyst, Kaminda Karunanayake and Associate Partners Vidhumin Grero and Chaminda de Silva.

The funds are advised by renowned contrarian investment gurus - Marc Faber, Jim Rogers, retired US Senator Larry Pressler and Rolf Jud.

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UK to introduce new business visa

UK to introduce a new business express visa program for companies tofacilitate their staff, who travel regularly to the UK.

The British Deputy High Commissioner, Mark Gooding said the High Commission has introduced the new visa to provide extensive market support to British companies who expect to invest in Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan companies that want to do business in the UK.

Gooding said the British government had taken effective steps to promote bi-lateral trade and investment in Sri Lanka.

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Govt. Commences Construction Of Largest Saltern In SL

The government has commenced the construction of the largest saltern in the country at Kurumpity in Trincomalee.

The government announced that construction is underway to build the saltern in a 1,800-acre land. Upon completion it is expected to produce 50,000 metric tons of salt per year.

The public venture is a part of the large scale development work to improve infrastructure facilities in the formerly war-torn areas of the country and to provide livelihoods to the people in the area who have faced severe hardships due to the three-decade long war.

According to the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry, the project will generate 800 direct employments and over 1,500 indirect employments. The project will also help reduce the present salt prices.

The government has said that nearly 60% of the current annual salt requirement of the country is produced locally and the remaining 40 % is imported at a cost of nearly Rs .380 million.

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Sri Lankan Airlines to acquire seven more aircraft by 2011 end

Sri Lankan Airlines will acquire its first brand new aircraft in more than a decade, among the seven aircraft it plans to take delivery of by the end of 2011. They include five Airbus A320’s, including three brand new aircraft, and two Twin Otter floatplanes.

Sri Lankan’s CEO Manoj Gunawardena said: “We will be celebrating an important new chapter in the history of SriLankan Airlines with the arrival of this large number of aircraft within a short period. They will allow SriLankan to significantly enhance the passenger experience on board our flights, give us the ability to fly to more cities in the Subcontinent, Middle East and Southeast Asia, and to also increase capacity to existing destinations in these regions.”

The last time Sri Lanka’s National Carrier took delivery of a brand new aircraft was in June of 2000, when it received the last of six A330-200’s. The three brand new aircraft are scheduled to be acquired in from May-November 2011, and will sport the latest comforts and entertainment systems including Audio-Video On Demand (AVOD) in both Business and Economy Classes.

These three aircraft would be preceded by two other A320’s which are likely to arrive in December 2010 and early 2011. All five aircraft would be on operating leases at very attractive terms of monthly payments. In addition, two Twin Otters are to be acquired for the re-launch of its domestic service SriLankan Air Taxi this winter. The airline is also exploring the possibility of obtaining at least one more long-haul wide-body aircraft to launch services to more new destinations in Europe and the Far East.

“Our fleet expansion plans are constantly updated to support Sri Lanka’s rapidly growing tourism industry, while keeping in mind the financial requirements of the airline,” said SriLankan’s CEO.

Sri Lanka’s National Carrier began a re-fleeting programme shortly after its management changed hands in April 2008, acquiring three A320’s in 2008 and 2009 to replace old aircraft. A wide-body A330-200 was also added to the fleet two months ago.

These seven aircraft will join SriLankan’s fleet of 13 – three A320’s, five A330’s, and five A340’s – with a global network covering 49 cities in 31 countries. The twin-engined A320’s operate to destinations in the Subcontinent, Maldives, Southeast Asia, and parts of the Middle East, while the A330’s and A340’s operate to the Middle East, Europe, and the Far East. 

Source : The Hindu

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One Shot arrested

UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake was arrested by the Police a short while ago in Kandy for allegedly giving a woman false hopes of marrying her...

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Microfinance needs re-evaluation to achieve financial inclusion - Experts

There is a broad international agreement on the importance of Financial Inclusion as a policy goal for all governments, including the developing countries of Asia. While microfinance is an important tool in achieving financial inclusion, it is increasingly becoming clear that inclusion is much more than providing access to microcredit alone.





What role microfinance can play in achieving financial inclusion was the topic of discussion at the opening panel of Asia Microfinance Forum in Colombo, Sri Lanka today.  Setting the tone of the panel, Mr. Philip Brown, Managing Director and Director of Risk, Citi Microfinance said, “To remain a growth sector the microfinance industry is undergoing another period of re-evaluation with a focus on improved client understanding and product innovation”.





Speaking about the role of microfinance in achieving financial inclusion, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women’s World Banking said, “I think MFIs are uniquely placed to play a role in financial inclusion as they can provide a full range of financial services to the poor. Since MFIs are focussing on women, who form the major part of financially excluded communities, microfinance can be instrumental in achieving financial inclusion of a large population”.





Ms. Ellen also delved on the impact of commercialization on the operations of microfinance institutions. Acknowledging the fact that donor money alone cannot meet the huge unmet demand of microfinance and MFIs do need to access commercial capital, she said “Investors must play constructive role in the decision making of microfinance organizations”.





Dolores Torres, President and CEO, CARD MRI, Philippines, who was also on the opening panel introduced the audience to her organization’s training program. “We established CARD MRI development institute where we train our staff. In 2006, we started CARD MRI life insurance agency and in 2007, we got registered as CARD institute bank. We are also helping our members to develop their businesses and marketing.”





Ms. Torres highlighted the uniqueness of CARD bank which has a full equity share holders owned by CARD members. “We also ensure that women participate in every aspect of the management. The total insured individuals are 6 million. For one insured member, her husband and children are also insured, making our contribution a lot higher” she added.





Briefing the audience about the current status of microfinance in Sri Lanka, W M Karunaratne, Assistant Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said, “In Sri Lanka, law and order has been established for stability. The country has entered into a new era, an era where interest rate has come down to just 5% today. Sri Lanka government has supported the economic growth.





“As far as I know Sri Lanka MFIs are well ahead and in the process to promote microfinance. Self help groups and technology to reach the masses are in place. This will be a new initiative for us to reach more people at low cost” he added.





Stressing on the need of regulated microfinance Mr. Karunaratne said, “In many countries, microfinance main objective is not to make profits but under situations when their funds have dried up, they move towards profit making. Once that happens, it becomes a financial business. At this state, MFIs need be subjected to some sort of regulation. The government of Sri Lanka has taken steps to regulate the MF system”.





The central bank of Sri Lanka reaches to the low income people by promoting linkages between banks and MFIs. It implemented a programme on behalf of the government to reach the under banked areas. “Through microfinance, we hope to promote more income opportunities and reduce income disparities.  Sri Lanka people are ready to learn, they have the capacity to come out of any adversity”.





Source : Microfinance Focus

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Sri Lanka wins boxing gold

Heartbreak for Wales's Sean McGoldrick, who is narrowly beaten by Sri Lanka's Manju Wanniarachchi on countbacks following a 7-7 thriller after three rounds. That's Sri Lanka's first gold medal in 72 years at the Commonwealth Games.

Sri Lanka’s Manju Wanniarachchi on Wednesday won Commonwealth Games gold in the bantamweight division for Sri Lanka’s first boxing title in 72 years.

The 30-year-old from Kandy won a points decision 16-14 to beat Welsh teenager Sean McGoldrick over three rounds in a closely contested bout in which the scores were tied 7-7.

Barney Hennricus won Sri Lanka’s only boxing gold medal at the 1938 Empire Games in Sydney.

The first round was scored even 3-3 while Wanniarachchi who hails from the central hill capital of Kandy trailed 5-6 after the second round.

Wanniarachchi nosed ahead of the 18-year-old from Newport 7-6 during the third round but the Welshman leveled with about 20 seconds remaining.

The Sri Lankan was declared the winner on a countback of the scores.

Sri Lankan boxers won two silver and a bronze medal at the next edition of the Games in Auckland in 1950.

Bronze medallists were the beaten semifinalists Tirafalo Seoko of Botswana and Louis Julie of Mauritius.

Northern Ireland’s Paddy Barnes won gold in the light flyweight division.

Barnes - the British province’s first European champion in 19 years - beat defending champion Jafet Uutoni from Namibia 8-4 on points.

Bronze went to losing semifinalists Muhammad Waseem of Pakistan and India’s Amandeep Singh.

In the picture above, the Sri Lankan boxer points to a higher power when the judges announce their decision before soaking in the adulation from his compatriots in the stands. 

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