Amãna Bank declares an interim scrip dividend

Having previously paid two continuous cash dividends in 2018 and 2019, Amãna Bank has announced an interim scrip dividend of eight cents per share for the financial year 2020, in line with the latest directions of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to all banks on restricting cash dividends.

The scrip dividend, which totals over Rs.200 million from the bank’s retained earnings, is issued in proportion of one share for approximately every 25 shares held in the bank, which is valued at Rs.2 per share. Once the scrip dividends are issued, the bank’s shares will increase by 100,055,621 shares to reach 2,601,446,155 shares.

Commenting on the dividend declaration, Amãna Bank Chairman Osman Kassim said, “Owing to our resilient performance amidst the challenging environment that prevailed in 2019, which continued in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are pleased to announce our third consecutive dividend as part of our value creation strategy for our shareholders. Despite these unprecedented times in the country, we are happy to have been able to continue rewarding our shareholders with this scrip dividend for the confidence they have placed in us.”

The bank earned a profit before tax of Rs.844.8 million and profit after tax of Rs.460.9 million during 2019, while the profit before tax and profit after tax for 1Q 2020 stood at Rs.180.2 million and Rs.129.8 million, respectively.

Following an impressive 16 percent growth in deposits in 2019, which was one of the highest in the industry, the bank’s deposit base in 1Q 2020 grew by a further 8 percent to close the quarter at Rs.77.0 billion. As a result of conscious strengthening of credit risk parameters in the backdrop of challenging market conditions, advances grew to close at Rs.58.4 billion. At the end of the quarter, the bank’s total assets surpassed the Rs.90 billion mark to read at Rs.91.6 billion, resulting in the bank’s net asset value improving to Rs.4.78 per share.

Further strengthening the bank’s position as a growing and stable franchise, in June 2020, Fitch Ratings Sri Lanka upwardly revised the bank’s National Longterm Rating to Bb+(lka), from Bb(lka), with a Stable Outlook. Fitch Ratings has issued the new rating following the recalibration of its Sri Lankan National Rating scale to reflect the changes in the relative creditworthiness among the country’s issuers.