Sampath’s pre-tax profit over Rs 10 B in 1H
View(s):Sampath Bank’s Group pre-tax profit for the first half of the year exceeded Rs. 10.3 billion, up from Rs. 9.9 billion in the same 2017 period.
Post-tax profit grew by 19.9 per cent to Rs. 6.8 billion for the first half of 2018. Sampath Group also posted a post-tax profit growth of 20.2 per cent.
In a media release, the bank said Net Interest Income (NII), which is the main source of income representing almost 71 per cent of the total operating income of the bank, recorded an increase of Rs. 4.5 billion, 34.3 per cent higher than 2017.
Net fee and commission income, which largely comprises credit, trade, card and electronic channel related fees increased to Rs. 4.7 billion during the period under review from Rs. 3.8 billion earlier.
Impairment charges amounting to Rs 2.8 billion, an increase of Rs. 1.4 billion over the 2017 period of Rs.1.4 billion. “The number of customers qualifying for individual impairment increased resulting in an increase in individual impairment of Rs. 1 billion. Meanwhile, the collective impairment charge also increased by Rs. 0.5 billion predominantly due to movement of certain customers to higher arrears segments,” the release said.
Sampath Bank’s total asset base grew by 8.9 per cent (annualized 17.8 per cent) during the period under review to reach Rs. 865.6 billion as at June 30.
The Central Bank introduced Basel III to the Sri Lankan Banking industry with effect from July 1, 2017. The full implementation would take place in three phases over a period of 18 months and is targeted to be completed by January 1, 2019, at which point Sampath Bank would need to maintain its Tier I Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) at 10 per cent and Total CAR at 14 per cent.
In order to fall in line with these new regulatory requirements, Sampath Bank raised Rs. 12.5 billion worth of Tier I Capital by way of a Rights Issue in April 2018 and Rs. 7.5 billion worth of Tier II Capital by way of a Basel III Compliant Debenture Issue in March 2018.