Media Centre

 

The CSR Trust of Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently donated a Slit Lamp to the National Eye Hospital as part of the Bank’s CSR initiatives in the sphere of Health.

The Slit Lamp facilitates an examination of the frontal structures and posterior segment of the human eye, including the eyelid, sclera, conjunctiva, iris, natural crystalline lens, and cornea. The binocular Slit Lamp examination provides a stereoscopic magnified view of the eye structures in detail, enabling anatomical diagnoses to be made for a variety of eye conditions.

According to hospital authorities, a daily patient turnout of around 200 is recorded at the eye clinic where the Slit Lamp is installed.

Other CSR initiatives of the Bank include its main activity of donating IT Laboratories to schools, awarding scholarships to undergraduates, assistance to war heroes, preserving cultural heritage and other regional CSR Events.

Picture shows Commercial Bank’s Deputy General Manager Marketing Mr. Hasrath Munasinghe handing over the lamp to Consultant Pathologist of the National Eye Hospital Dr. Manel Pasqual in the presence of doctors and staff of the hospital and officials of the Bank.

 

Commercial Bank has been felicitated once again as a top corporate citizen, this time by the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) for being the most punctual taxpayer in Colombo for the past five years consecutively.

In recognition of the Bank’s exemplary civic consciousness, Commercial Bank’s Assistant General Manager - Properties and Services Mr. Noel Wickremasinghe was invited to hoist the national flag at the Council premises, as part of the felicitation. The Bank has also been presented with a special card by the CMC, entitling it to priority service from the Council.

 
Picture shows Mr. Wickremasinghe hoisting the National Flag at the Council Premises. Municipal Commissioner Ms. Bhadrani Jayawardhane and Municipal Treasurer Mr. K D. Chitrapala are also in the picture.

 
The largest private bank in Sri Lanka and the only Sri Lankan Bank to be listed two years consecutively in the world’s Top 1,000 Banks, Commercial Bank operates a network of 232 branches and service points and a network of 563 ATMs in Sri Lanka.

 

 

Operational gains impacted by lower forex profit; Capital Adequacy Ratio improves to 16.62%

 

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has posted profit before tax of Rs 3.23 billion on  gross income of Rs 16.77 billion for the three months ended 31^st March 2013, despite the challenges of reduced foreign exchange income and narrowing margins in the reporting period.

Releasing its first quarterly statement based on new Sri Lanka Accounting Standards (SLFRS) which are based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for interim accounts, the Bank said foreign exchange income had declined by Rs 1.47 billion or 65% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year, due to the appreciation of the Sri Lanka Rupee against the US Dollar during the reporting period as against a depreciation during the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Interest income improved by 24% to Rs 14.487 billion in the period under review, but interest expenses increased at a higher rate of 44% to Rs 8.874 billion, exerting pressure on interest margins, the Bank said. Consequently, the interest margin for the quarter declined to 4.34% from the 4.85% reported for 2012.

As a result of these factors, the Bank’s profit after tax of Rs 2.241 billion for the three months was lower by Rs 563 million over the first quarter of 2012.

"The Bank continued its trend of steady growth as reflected by the increase in deposits and interest earning assets as well as improved capital adequacy ratios and other key indicators,” Commercial Bank Chairman, Mr. Dinesh Weerakkody said.

 “The impact of lower translation gains and income from foreign currency operations on profit was anticipated following the strengthening of the Rupee commencing the latter part of 2012,” Commercial Bank’s Managing Director/CEO Mr. Ravi Dias said.

Total deposits of the Bank grew by Rs 13.570 billion over the three months since December 2012, surpassing Rs 400 billion to Rs 408.945 billion at 31^st March 2013, recording a growth of approximately 4%, while its interest earning assets too increased by the same percentage, growing by Rs 15.907 billion to Rs 389.451 billion at the end of the quarter reviewed. Total assets of the Bank increased by 4.91% to Rs 536.9 billion from Rs 511.7 billion at the end of 2012.

The Bank’s Tier I Capital Adequacy Ratio improved to 12.72% as at 31^st March 2013 from 12.64% at 31^st December 2012, while total capital adequacy (Tier I and Tier II) increased to 16.62% from 13.85%, largely due to a sum of US$ 75 million raised by the Bank from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as a ten year Subordinated Term Debt that qualifies for Tier II Capital.

Commercial Bank’s Chief Financial Officer Mr. Nandika Buddhipala said the Bank had made a reversal of Rs 100.654 million in its individual impairment provisions in the quarter reviewed. This was mainly due to efforts of the Bank to recover part of such loans and also due to the reduction in the number of loans considered for individual impairment during the first quarter of 2013.

Collective impairment provisions had also reduced from Rs 1.258 billion in the first quarter of last year to Rs 610 million in the reviewed three months, largely due to a change in the mix of the loans subjected to collective impairment that was favourable to the Bank.  Consequent to this, the total impairment charges for the period was only Rs. 516.925 million which reflected a drop of Rs 514 million, or an improvement of 49.86% compared to the first quarter 2012.

Total expenses including personnel costs, depreciation, amortisation and other expenses for the three months was Rs 3.508 billion, an increase of 7.2%.

Taken as a Group, the Commercial Bank, its subsidiaries and associates posted pre-tax profits of Rs 3.255 billion for the quarter reviewed. Profit after tax for the three months was Rs 2.257 billion.

The largest private bank in Sri Lanka and the only Sri Lankan Bank to be listed two years consecutively in the world’s Top 1,000 Banks, Commercial Bank operates a network of 232 branches and service points in Sri Lanka and a network of 563 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The Bank also operates 18 outlets in Bangladesh. The Bank has been adjudged the Best Bank in Sri Lanka by Global Finance magazine for a record 15 consecutive years and has also won multiple awards as the country’s best bank from ‘The Banker,’ ‘FinanceAsia,’ ‘Euromoney’ and ‘Trade Finance’ magazines.

 

 

Seven hotels offering diverse experiences have joined Commercial Bank’s ‘Easy Vacation’ scheme, enabling the Bank’s credit card holders to enjoy substantial discounts in May and June this year.

Encompassing beach, hill country, heritage, rejuvenation or wildlife experiences, these hotels will offer Commercial Bank credit card holders between 30% and 35% off their total bills for stays on full or half board basis.

The seven participating hotels are Citrus Hikkaduwa, Fresco Water Villa Sigiriya, Grand Udawalawe Safari Resort, Oak Ray Tea Bush Ramboda, Pelwehera Village Resorts Dambulla, Siddhalepa Ayurveda Health Resort Wadduwa and Siddhalepa Transit Spa at BIA Katunayake.

The discounts will apply for stays paid for by Commercial Bank credit cards between 1^st May and 30^th June 2013. The total discount offered by Citrus Hikkaduwa will be 35%, while the six other hotels will offer total discounts of up to 30%, the Bank said. Up to two rooms may be booked on this basis.

This latest offer for Commercial Bank credit card holders comes hot on the heels of the Bank’s ‘Dine & Smile’ promotion that ran in February, March and April this year, with 23 popular participating restaurants offering discounts of 30% and 20%. The Bank also offered its Credit and Shopping Debit Cardholders discounts of up to 25% at 14 popular clothing and footwear retailers during the concluded ‘Avurudu’ shopping season.

Discounts of this nature significantly enhance the benefits already offered by Comdeals, a programme which provides value addition to Commercial Bank cardholders through discounts at a number of major retail outlets in the country and 0% easy payment schemes for Credit Cardholders. Commercial Bank Cardholders are also eligible to participate in global promotions carried out by Visa and MasterCard.

The largest private bank in Sri Lanka and the only Sri Lankan Bank to be listed two years consecutively in the world’s Top 1,000 Banks, Commercial Bank operates a network of 231 branches and service points in Sri Lanka and a network of 563 ATMs. The Bank has been adjudged the Best Bank in Sri Lanka by Global Finance magazine for a record 15 successive years and has also won multiple awards as the country’s best bank from ‘The Banker,’ ‘FinanceAsia,’ ‘Euromoney’ and ‘Trade Finance’ magazines.

 

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been adjudged the Most Productive Network in South Asia in 2012 for MoneyGram, the global funds transfer company. This is the second successive year that the Bank received this award, which was presented at MoneyGram’s Regional Conference in Jodhpur, India. Commercial Bank is one of the preferred networks for MoneyGram beneficiaries because of its network of 231 branches and service points in Sri Lanka. Funds can be collected even on holidays, at over 50 holiday banking centres of the Bank. In order to ensure a speedy pay out, the Bank has set up dedicated counters at some of its key locations popular for remittances.

Pictured here is Commercial Bank Assistant General Manager Operations Mr. Palitha Perera (extreme right) at the ceremony with MoneyGram Officials.