Modest overall growth in FY 2018 for Seylan Bank
View(s):Seylan Bank, in the backdrop of a challenging external environment, has recorded a Profit-after-Tax of Rs. 3,189 million for the year ended 31st December 2018 after one-off adjustment of Rs. 1,135 million to resolve the long standing issue of additional gratuity.
The bank’s advances grew by 16.4 per cent while the deposit base grew by 16.4 per cent. Net interest income increased by 14.6 per cent while net fee and commission income from core banking activities grew by 7 per cent.
In a media release, the bank reported a net advance growth of Rs.46 billion with net advances growing from Rs. 281 billion to Rs. 327 billion during 2018.
“The overall deposit base recorded a growth of Rs. 50 billion from Rs. 307 billion by end of 2017 to Rs. 357 billion by end 2018. CASA growth slowed down with a notable shift from low cost to fixed deposits due to increasing interest rates,” it said.
Net fee and commission income witnessed a growth of Rs. 266 million to Rs. 4,054 million during 2018. This was mainly attributed to fee and commission income from trade, term loans, other financial services and credit cards. Other income captions comprising of net gains from trading activities, fair value changes of financial instruments, gains on foreign exchange transactions and net other operating income decreased by 16.2 per cent to Rs. 1,391 million during 2018.
The bank’s Earnings per Share (EPS), Return (profit before tax) on Asset (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) are recorded at Rs. 8.7 per share, 1.1 per cent and 9.3 per cent, respectively.
In 2018, the bank network increased to 170 Banking Centres, 207 ATMs and 98 Student Saving Centres. The bank said it plans to grow the branch network further to reach a larger spectrum of customers and widen the bank’s geographical presence in order to have a competitive advantage. Further, the bank deployed 29 Cash Deposits Machines (CDMs) during the year which totalled up to 38 and 20 Multiple Services Counters (MSCs) totaling up to 29 throughout the banking network for the convenience of customers.