Seylan Bank closed the nine months ending September 30, 2019 with a post-tax profit of Rs. 2,554mn, a marginal increase of 1% over the corresponding period last year.
Growth in advances coupled with the rise in interest rates enabled interest income to grow by 16.77% and interest expenses increased by 22.28%. As a result, Net interest income recorded a growth of 7.20% to reach Rs. 13,987 mn.
Net fees and commission income recorded a slight growth of 4.54% for the period under review. This was mainly attributed to card related income and guarantee related income during the period.
Other income captions comprising net losses from trading activities, net fair value gains of financial instruments, net gains on foreign exchange transactions and other operating income were reported as a net gain of Rs. 1,144 mn compared to a net gain of Rs. 1,008 mn in 3Q 2018 mainly as a result of upward movement in exchange income, despite a decrease in Mark to Market gains on Derivatives Financial Instruments.
Total expenses increased by 8.68%. The Bank’s profit before taxes (PBT) was negatively impacted by the debt repayment levy of Rs. 706 mn for the nine months ended September 2019 which was not in existence in the corresponding period of 2018.
The Bank reported a credit growth of 7.75% increasing the advances from Rs. 327 bn to Rs. 352 bn, while the deposit base grew from Rs. 358 bn to Rs. 377 bn during the nine months ended 30th September 2019.
The Bank’s CASA ratio stood at 28.40%.
The Gross NPA (Net of IIS) Ratio stood at 6.73% as at September 30, 2019. The Bank’s Earning per Share (EPS) improved from Rs. 6.71 to Rs. 6.76.
The Bank recorded a Return (Profit before Tax) on Average Assets (ROAA) of 0.93% and Return on Equity (ROE) of 9.30%. The Bank’s Net Assets Value per share as at September 30, 2019 was Rs. 102.09 (Group Rs. 106.30).
The Bank received in principle approval from the Colombo Stock Exchange to proceed with a Rights Issue to support balance sheet growth and meet capital adequacy requirements.