Media Centre

 

Becomes first private bank to surpass Rs 500 bn in assets

 

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has established yet another performance milestone, becoming the first private bank in Sri Lanka to surpass Rs 10 billion in net profit, following a solid all-round 2012 performance that the Bank dedicates primarily to its customers.

Profit before tax for the 12 months ending 31st December 2012 grew 30.26% to Rs 14.311 billion, while profit after tax at Rs 10.072 billion reflected a growth of 25.15%, Sri Lanka’s largest private bank said in a filing with the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Commercial Bank Chairman Mr. Dinesh Weerakkody said the Bank’s financial results reflect the significant role it now plays in the lives of millions of people and the national economy, as well as its commitment to the concept of ‘Banking on You.’

Commenting on the Bank’s 2012 performance, Mr. Weerakkody said: “The Bank's stellar
performance this year amply demonstrates the 'value' of long standing relationships that the Bank has built over the years. Many Sri Lankans are stakeholders of the Bank given the Bank's wide
geographical spread and the large customer base cutting across every stratum of society.”

Commercial Bank’s Managing Director and CEO Mr. Ravi Dias noted that: “Our aim has always been to focus on our fundamentals – strengthening the balance sheet, ensuring stability and maintaining a strong current and savings account base, which at current levels is probably the best in the industry.”

The Bank’s total income for 2012 improved by 38.88% to Rs 63.167 billion, with interest Income increasing 37.72% to Rs 51.838 billion and non-interest income composed of foreign exchange & other income, growing by 47.62% to Rs 9.729 billion.

Interest income from loans and advances grew by 45.35% to Rs 41.711 billion. The Bank’s total performing loans and advances increased by Rs 48.824 billion or 17.94% over the 12 months. Interest Income from Other Interest Earning Assets such as Treasury Bills and Bonds improved by 13.26% to Rs 10.128 billion.

With the Bank’s deposits portfolio growing by Rs 64.262 billion or 20.18%, interest expenses grew by 52.31% in the review period to Rs 29.918 billion.

Consequently, Net Interest Income increased by 21.80% to Rs 21.920 billion.

The growth in non-interest income was attributable principally to increased foreign exchange income. A high volume of Treasury operations and translation gains generated foreign exchange income of Rs 4.752 billion, an increase of 104.69%.

Total Loans and Advances of the Bank improved by 17.67% over the 12 months to Rs 338.843 billion at 31st December 2012. This growth was carefully managed by the Bank in keeping with the guidelines stipulated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank’s Chief Financial Officer Mr. Nandika Buddhipala said.

The Bank’s Total Deposits stood at Rs 382.723 billion at 31st December 2012.

Total Assets of the Bank crossed the Rs 500 billion milestone during the year to Rs 510.75 billion, reflecting a growth of 15.79%. Commercial Bank is the first private bank in Sri Lanka to exceed Rs 500 billion in assets.

The provisioning policy adopted by the Bank under which it made additional provisions over and above the minimum level required by the Central Bank resulted in net provisions for bad and doubtful debts increasing to Rs 1.496 billion, Mr. Buddhipala disclosed. In addition to this the Bank made a general provision of Rs 228 million in the year reviewed.

The Bank’s gross non-performing loans ratio reduced marginally from 3.43% in 2011 to 3.37% in 2012, and its net NPL ratio also improved, from 2.08% to 1.84%.

Its Interest margin increased by 15 bps to 4.59% from 4.44% a year previously.

Non-interest Expenses increased by 17.03% to Rs 13.858 billion, with staff cost, premises, equipment and establishment charges increasing due to expansion of the branch network and relocation of several branches.

The Bank opened 14 new delivery channels and installed 55 new ATMs in Sri Lanka during the review period to end the year with 227 service points and a network of 555 ATMs, which is the single largest ATM network owned by a bank in Sri Lanka. The Bank’s Bangladesh operations comprised of 17 service points and 14 ATMs in the year under review.

In other key performance indicators, the Bank’s Return on Equity improved to 20.79% while Return on Assets improved to 3.01% before tax and 2.12% after tax.

A 10 year subordinated loan of US$ 75 million obtained from the IFC in the first quarter of 2013 would further improve capital adequacy, creating more room for leverage, Mr. Buddhipala said.

Taken as a Group, the Commercial Bank, its subsidiaries and associates reported a pre-tax profit of Rs 14.332 billion at the end of 2012, representing a growth of 29.49%. Profit after tax for the period increased by 24.25% to Rs 10.058 billion.

Commercial Bank is the only Sri Lankan Bank to be listed two years consecutively in the world’s Top 1000 Banks. The Bank has been adjudged ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for 14 consecutive years by ‘Global Finance’ Magazine, and has won multiple awards as the country’s best bank from ‘The Banker,’ ‘FinanceAsia,’ ‘Euromoney’ and ‘Trade Finance’ magazines.

 

Users of Credit and Debit cards issued by the Commercial Bank of Ceylon will once again be smiling as they dine, thanks to yet another ‘Dine & Smile’ promotion launched by Sri Lanka’s largest private bank.

The promotion, under which 23 popular participating restaurants are offering discounts of 30% and 20% to the Bank’s Credit and Debit cardholders respectively, commenced on Valentine’s Day, runs through the rest of February and March and ends on 7th April.

The participating restaurants in this latest edition of ‘Dine & Smile’ are Samara Restaurant (Amaya Lake),
Rasa Wasala Restaurant (Amaya Hills), Wayamba Café Forest, the Main Restaurant at Club Bentota, the Coffee Shop, Scheherazade and California Grill at Galadari Hotel Colombo, the Governor’s Restaurant and Terrace at Mount Lavinia Hotel, Akasa Kade, Amrith Restaurant, Barista, Bars Café, Café Pascucci, Il Gelato, Jack Tree, Loon Tao, Oak-Ray Regency, Raja Bojun, The Mango Tree, Senani Restaurant – Kandy, the Sandwich Factory and Tilko Hotel.

On 7th March 2013, Pizza Hut joins the promotion, offering Commercial Bank’s Credit and Debit card holders their respective discounts of 30% and 20% throughout March.

The discounts are valid for dine-in customers as well as on take away and deliveries on bills between Rs 500 and Rs 20,000 settled by Commercial Bank credit or debit cards.

“A consistent feature of our Dine & Smile promotions is the wide choice of cuisine, ambience and price with an offering ranging from five-star fine dining to fast food and ice cream,” said Thusitha Suraweera, Chief Manager of Commercial Bank’s Card Centre. “These promotions reflect the diversity of the Bank’s customer base and reaffirm our commitment to add value to Commercial Bank cards by securing the best deals for our cardholders.”

These discounts will 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.

Commercial Bank is 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. It operates a network of 227 service points in Sri Lanka and a network of 558 ATMs, the single largest ATM network operated by a bank in the island. The Bank has been adjudged ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for 14 consecutive years by ‘Global Finance’ Magazine, and has won multiple awards as the country’s best bank from ‘The Banker,’ ‘FinanceAsia,’ ‘Euromoney’ and ‘Trade Finance’ magazines.

 

 

D. S. Senanayake Central College Uhumeeya latest beneficiary of Bank’s flagship CSR initiative

The D. S. Senanayake Central College, Uhumeeya, Kurunegala, a school with a history dating back to 1870, became the latest educational institution to benefit from the flagship CSR initiative of the Commercial Bank when it received the milestone 75th IT Lab donated by the Bank.

Established as Uhumeeya Vidyalaya with just five students and renamed D. S. Senanayake Central College in 1995, the school has 1,650 students and 86 teachers today. Responding to the school’s need of a facility to provide IT education to its students, the Commercial Bank set up a fully equipped and furnished IT Lab under its nation-wide IT education project.

Commercial Bank Director Mr. Lakshman Hulugalle, who is Chairman of the Commercial Bank CSR Trust, participated as the Chief Guest of the handing over ceremony of this IT Lab.

Commercial Bank’s IT Education project has to date benefitted more than 40,000 students. All schools that receive computer laboratories from the Bank are provided brand new computers with licensed software. The schools are also provided accessories such as computer tables, printers and chairs. The Bank provides assistance to maintain and upgrade these computer labs when necessary to ensure that the facilities benefit many batches of students.

These donations are funded by Commercial Bank’s CSR Trust which assists the Bank to identify national priorities and deliver a structured response to the needs of the community.

Besides its IT Education programme, the Bank also presents scholarships and laptops to 25 undergraduates each year. In September 2012, these commitments to the education sector were further expanded with the launch of a national-scale community initiative to take English language education to children in rural Sri Lanka.

Other CSR initiatives of the Bank include healthcare projects, preserving cultural heritage, uplifting the living standards of war heroes and needs-based regional projects.

The largest private bank in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank is the only Sri Lankan Bank to be listed two years consecutively in the world’s Top 1000 Banks. The Bank operates a network of 227 service points in Sri Lanka and a network of 558 ATMs. The Bank has been adjudged ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for 14 consecutive years by ‘Global Finance’ Magazine, and has won multiple awards as the country’s best bank from ‘The Banker,’ ‘FinanceAsia,’ ‘Euromoney’ and ‘Trade Finance’ magazines.

Photo Caption:

(Top) Commercial Bank Director Lakshman Hulugalle, DGM Marketing Hasrath Munasinghe and a student open the IT lab at D. S. Senanayake Central College and (Below) the new IT lab donated by the Bank

 

Banking with Commercial Bank via the Bank’s sophisticated Combank Online Banking service has generated a windfall for several lucky customers who have won Samsung mobile phones and tabs under a promotion currently under way.

The Bank recently presented a Samsung Galaxy Note II, Samsung Galaxy S III and a Samsung Galaxy Tab II to the first batch of winners, along with 10 consolation prizes of Galaxy Music Duos mobile phones.

All these winners had to do was register for Combank Online Banking or complete a transaction using the Bank’s online banking, to be eligible for the monthly draws. The promotion runs till Wednesday, 10th April 2013.

In all Commercial Bank will present 39 mobile phones and tabs to online banking customers under this promotion.

The Bank recently re-launched its Online Banking platform, based on the Microsoft .net Framework. Offering exceptionally user-friendly menus and benchmark security and encryption features, the new Online Banking platform puts customers in control, and requires less intervention by the Bank.

Commercial Bank’s Online Banking platform supports bill payments to more than 36 entities in nine categories – Telephone, Electricity, Water, Credit cards, Insurance, Pay TV, Schools, Rates and Other. Investing in Treasury Bills and effecting payments for share trading transactions is also possible, with self-registration of the users CDS number.

The largest private bank in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank is the only Sri Lankan Bank to be listed two years consecutively in the world’s Top 1000 Banks. The Bank operates a network of 227 service points in Sri Lanka and a network of 558 ATMs, the single largest ATM network operated by a bank in the island. The Bank has been adjudged ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for 14 consecutive years by ‘Global Finance’ Magazine, and has won multiple awards as the country’s best bank from ‘The Banker,’ ‘FinanceAsia,’ ‘Euromoney’ and ‘Trade Finance’ magazines.

Photo caption: 

The first, second and third place winners of Commercial Bank's online banking promotion with the Bank's Managing Director/CEO Mr. Ravi Dias (fourth from left) and management of the Bank

 

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently doubled the number of ATMs at Gate 2 of the Katunayake Export Processing Zone to meet the increased demand for service. As a result, the Commercial Bank now operates 4 ATMs at this entrance, increasing the total number of the Bank’s ATMs within the zone to 8. These ATMs provide factory and office employees in business establishments within the zone the convenience of withdrawing money whilst they travel to work. These are also used by large numbers of visitors to the zone daily.

In all, Commercial Bank operates 558 ATMs in Sri Lanka, which is the largest automated cash dispensing network owned by a single bank in the country. Among the many offsite locations equipped with ATMs by the Bank are bus terminals, railway stations and shopping malls. Pictured here are the new ATMs at gate 02 of EPZ and a crowded day at the ATM.