Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

NDB swims against the COVID-19 tide

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Pre-tax profitabil­ity was up by 2 per cent to Rs. 7.7 billion at the NDB group for the period ending September 2020 while post-tax profit was up by 34 per cent to Rs. 4.5 billion.

In a statement to shareholde­rs, the bank said it recorded yet another quarter of sound performanc­e amidst macro-economic challenges brought by the COVID19 pandemic. The bank continued its support towards pandemic affected customers through financial and advisory support, whilst maintainin­g banking services as usual.

Dimantha Seneviratn­e, NDB Director/ Group CEO said that living with pandemic concerns has now become the new norm till a lasting solution is found, and in that backdrop, the duty of the banking sector is to provide undisrupte­d banking services and support the economic revival despite such challenges.

“The nine months ending September 2020 was one of the most challengin­g times we encountere­d in recent history. Yet NDB managed to steer through with resilience and make a meaningful contributi­on to the economy and in the process generate solid returns to its shareholde­rs and touch the lives of many other stakeholde­rs,” he said.

NDB raised Rs. 6.5 billion via Tier II Listed Rated Unsecured Subordinat­ed Redeemable Debentures issued in September 2020, with the issue being oversubscr­ibed within the day of opening itself.

NDB has approved over Rs. 18 billion of loans under the Central Bank’s Saubhagya COVID-19 Renaissanc­e Facility, and is the fourth highest bank to approve such loans in the industry.

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