SMB Finance PLC which was recently awarded a Finance Business Licence by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka plans to open branches covering all major provinces.
The Chief Executive Officer of SMB Finance, Supul Wijesinghe said that the Company would now embark on a growth strategy and these include expanding tier branch network as well as have future growth plans.
“We will be announcing our new product portfolio in the first quarter of 2023 and will be looking at various industries producing ecological products and have a steady cash flow,” he said, adding “One such area would be the tea industry where we hope to enter into a tripartite agreement with the tea broker, tea estate/factory and SMB Finance.”
Chairman Ravi Wijeratne said that the receipt of the license from CBSL reflects the Company’s strong balance sheet having a core capital well above minimum requirements.
“Prior to obtaining the finance business licence, SMB assisted the Central Bank’s consolidation program of the non-bank financial institutions sector by settling identified depositors of a troubled finance company.
“Finance during the last three financial years, SMB has grown its assets portfolio by over 300%. Prudent lending practices and as a consequence of growth in shareholder capital by 200% during the same period helped us to achieve this growth.
“We also hope to broaden our SME client base by introducing innovative industry specific and customer centric products in line with industry financing needs.
“We will be looking at entrepreneurs and businesses that don’t have the required collateral, but are running a fairy good business in terms of their cash flow.
Through this arrangement, the payment assurances are given by the tea broker affiliated with the tea estate and we do not need to look at collateral,’’ he said.