Commercial Bank assets up 31.29% to Rs. 795.6 bln in 2014
View(s):The Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC ended 2014 on a strong note, withstanding challenging conditions in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to post profit before tax of Rs. 15.736 billion for the year, up 8.45 per cent from 2013.
The bank’s profit after tax was Rs. 11.180 billion, up by 7.03 per cent amidst marginally lower interest income due to a drop in the rate of returns on interest earning assets.
“However, the strong performance of the bank’s loan book, which grew by Rs. 84.3 billion or 22.24 per cent to Rs. 463.6 billion, enabled the bank to improve its net interest income by 5.2 per cent to Rs. 27.222 billion, buttressing profit growth. Interest expenses reduced to Rs 34.610 billion due to an improvement in the bank’s CASA ratio, as a result of its success in mobilising low cost funds in the period reviewed,” a statement from the bank added.
Deposits increased by Rs. 78.3 billion or 17.34 per cent to Rs. 529.4 billion over the year, at an average of Rs 6.5 billion per month, the bank said.
Commenting on these results, Commercial Bank Chairman Dharma Dheerasinghe said that in the face of challenges on both the domestic and international fronts, the efforts of the bank’s Corporate and Personal Banking teams had resulted in its lending portfolio growing appreciably in the latter part of the year, registering a growth rate considerably higher than in the previous quarters. “Against a background of sharply declining interest margins, this healthy expansion of volume acted as a boost that raised the bank’s overall profits – a welcome consequence no doubt appreciated by all shareholders,” he said.
Mr. Dheerasinghe said the bank had developed a strategy to diversify its activities in the year reviewed, with a particular focus on fee-based income.
The bank opened four new branches in Sri Lanka in 2014 to end the year with 239 branches and a network of 606 ATMs, which is the largest ATM network owned by a single bank in Sri Lanka. The bank’s Bangladesh operations comprised 18 service points and 19 ATMs in the year under review.