Pan Asia Bank, closed its financial year ended December 31, 2016 recording a profit before tax of Rs 1.8 billion, an increase of 17% over the previous year.
Meanwhile the Bank increased its Profit after tax by 20% for the same period to Rs.1.25 billion or Rs.4.24 a share, surpassing its previous earnings record.
This commendable performance is a result of the combination of factors from the timely re-pricing of assets and liabilities, re-calibration of assets in to more remunerative areas, better recoveries and asset quality, the relatively strong growth in loans and receivables and better management of costs in all areas of the banking business during the year.
Meanwhile for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 (4Q’16), the Bank reported an earnings of Rs.4.65 a share or Rs.346 million which translated in to an increase of 19%. The Bank’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Lalith Jayakody attributed the performance to the proactive measures taken to successfully acclimatize the Bank to the rising interest rate scenario from the beginning of 2016.
“Although the economic conditions were less supportive towards the banking and the financial services sector due to rising interest rates and the tightened credit conditions, we could still achieve these record numbers because we remained nimble to adjust ourselves fast to the new economic order,” Jayakody said.
“Our continuous efforts on upgrading the skills of our staff, improving the efficiency of our systems and processes by keeping a closer tab on our costs and investing in growth areas did yield us these record earnings,” he said.
“We continue to remain upbeat over the opportunities that may arise going forward and will take forward looking decisions to turn these opportunities in to realities,” Jayakody added. In 2016, in recognition of the Bank’s excellent business and financial results, Pan Asia Bank was recognized as the overall winner in this category at the 2016 diet of the National Business Excellence Awards.