Union Bank first to release results in the Jan-March 2015 quarter
View(s):Union Bank (UBC), first off the blocks in the new reporting season for first quarter results of Sri Lankan banks, said 3-month (end March) group profit before impairment was Rs. 164.9 million, up 33 per cent from the same 2014 quarter.
The group’s net post-tax profit was Rs. 37.9 million, up by 64 per cent earlier. The bank’s post-tax profit was Rs. 25.1million for the quarter and this “is despite the significant investments that have been made, which are in line with the new strategic initiatives”, according to a media release issued by the bank.
In the latter part of 2014, a significant capital infusion of Rs. 11.4 billion received from Culture Financial Holdings, an affiliate of TPG, one of the largest private global investment firms, placed UBC) within the top five private sector banks in Sri Lanka in terms of market capitalisation and led to a change in strategy.
“Subsequent to the change in strategy, the bank’s rapid transition to a fully-fledged commercial bank with wider focus on retail, SME and corporate sectors saw several key changes (in the board of directors and management),” it said.
Indrajit Wickramasinghe, Director/Chief Executive Officer of the UBC, stated that, “the bank has realigned its infrastructure, human capital, systems and processes and is confidently gearing to take on the challenges of the highly competitive banking industry. We are pleased to see the recent restructuring efforts yielding very satisfactory performances already during the first quarter of 2015″.
Bank revenues for the period under review saw total operating income growing by 46 per cent YoY to Rs. 662.5 million.
“The primary reasons for this were the strong growth in loans and advances, improvement in margins and the quality of the loan book,” it said.