Seylan’s steady performance, Rs.3 bln post tax profit in 3Q

Seylan Bank has closed the 9 months ending 30th September 2017 with a post-tax profit of Rs.3 billion, a moderate growth of 6 per cent over the corresponding period last year. These results were impacted by provisions made on account of a legacy NPA, payment of which is due from the Compensation Tribunal, the bank said in a media release.

Growth in advances coupled with the rise in interest rates enabled interest income to grow by 35 per cent and interest expenses increased by 48 per cent due to funds moving into higher yielding fixed deposits. Further impact on interest cost was partly cushioned by CASA base over Rs. 90 billion. As a result Net interest income recorded a growth of 17.2 per cent to reach Rs. 11.4 billion.

“Net fees and commission income recorded an impressive growth of 25 per cent for the period under review driven by core banking related transactional fees and net trading income recorded a gain (compared to mark to market losses in the prior period) due to favourable movements in the yields of the underlying Government Securities. Total expenses increased by 14.8 per cent to Rs. 8.2 billion and were fuelled by new investments in technology and human capital developments. Cost management initiatives coupled with the implementation of lean concepts across the bank has aided in rationalising key cost lines,” the release said. Credit grew by 8.3 per cent increasing the advances from Rs. 236 billion to Rs.255 billion while the deposit base grew from Rs. 273 billion to Rs. 295 billion during the nine months ended 30th September 2017. The bank’s CASA ratio stood at over 30 per cent. As at 30th September 2017, the bank network comprised 167 banking centres, 203 ATMs and six CDMs giving seamless accessibility to its customers across the country. The bank is currently in the midst of rolling out its 2020 strategic plan focusing on relationship building, SME sector, Digital Channels and sales, the release added.