Sri Lanka rupee falls to record low on continued political uncertainty

Reuters: ** The Sri Lankan rupee fell to an all-time low on Thursday, continuing its record-setting spree, as political uncertainty outweighed the positive impact of a policy rate hike, sources said.

** Stocks closed firmer for a fourth session in five, but turnover was dull due to political uncertainty and the policy rate hike.

** The central bank on Wednesday unexpectedly raised its key policy rates, in a move aimed at defending a faltering rupee as foreign capital outflows pick up amid an escalating political crisis and rising U.S. interest rates.

** Sri Lanka appeared to have ground to a political halt on Thursday, with the speaker of parliament saying there was no functioning prime minister or cabinet after a no-confidence vote the previous day.

** Parliament passed the no-confidence motion against recently appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government with the backing of 122 of the 225 lawmakers, but President Maithripala Sirisena rejected it saying it appeared to have ignored the constitution, parliamentary procedure and tradition.

** Sirisena dissolved the parliament on Friday, two weeks after he sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as the prime minister, but the Supreme Court stayed his decree of sacking the legislature.

** The rupee hit a fresh low of 176.80 per U.S. dollar on Thursday, surpassing the previous record of 176.60 hit in the prior session.

** The currency ended at 176.60/80 per dollar, compared with the previous close of 176.50/60. It has weakened more than 1.8 percent since the political crisis began on Oct. 26 and more than 15 percent so far this year.

** Foreigners bought a net 23.4 million rupees worth stocks on Thursday, but have offloaded equities worth 7.6 billion rupees since the political crisis started on Oct. 26.

** The bond market saw outflows of about 21 billion rupees between Oct. 25 and Nov. 7, central bank data showed. This year, there have been 17.1 billion rupees of outflows from stocks and 110.8 billion rupees from government securities, bourse and central bank data showed.

** The Colombo stock index rose 0.34 percent to 5,967.34 on Thursday after falling 1.9 percent last week. Heavy retail investor buying had lifted it 4.5 percent in the week before. It has slipped over 6.3 percent so far this year.

** Stock market turnover was 135.8 million rupees ($771,152.75) on Thursday, its lowest since Sept. 6 and well below this year’s daily average of 842.9 million rupees. 

($1 = 176.1000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Sri Lankan rupee hits record low on political uncertainty

Reuters: ** The Sri Lankan rupee fell to a record low of 176.60 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as political uncertainty outweighed the positive impact of a policy rate hike, sources said. 

** Stocks closed weaker due to political uncertainty and the policy rate hike. 

** Before the market opened, the central bank unexpectedly raised its key policy rates, in a move aimed at defending a faltering rupee as foreign capital outflows pick up amid an escalating political crisis and rising U.S. interest rates.

** Soon after the market opened, the parliament passed a no-confidence motion against newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, a day after the Supreme Court stayed President Maithripala Sirisena’s decree to sack the parliament and call for early general polls, presenting a standoff with the opposition and throwing the country deeper into turmoil.

** The parliament was dissolved on Friday, two weeks after Sirisena sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and appointed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place.

** The rupee ended at 176.50/60 per dollar on Wednesday, compared with the previous close of 176.05/30. It has weakened more than 1.7 percent since the political crisis began on Oct. 26 and more than 14.7 percent so far this year.

** Foreigners bought a net 26.8 million rupees worth stocks on Wednesday, but have offloaded equities worth 7.7 billion rupees since the political crisis started on Oct. 26.

** The bond market saw outflows of about 21 billion rupees between Oct. 25 and Nov. 7, central bank data showed. This year, there have been 17.1 billion rupees of outflows from stocks and 110.8 billion rupees from government securities, bourse and central bank data showed. 

** The Colombo stock index fell 0.77 percent to 5,947.36 after falling 1.9 percent last week. Heavy retail investor buying had lifted it 4.5 percent in the week before. It has slipped over 6.6 percent so far this year.

** Stock market turnover was 729.2 million rupees ($4.15 million) on Wednesday, less than this year’s daily average of 846.4 million rupees. 

($1 = 175.9000 Sri Lankan rupees) 

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Sri Lanka raises rates, cuts reserve ratio amid BOP trouble

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's Central Bank has raised rates by 50 basis points and cut the reserve ratio by 150 basis points to release liquidity shortages that came from defending a soft-pegged exchange rate regime.

"The large and persistent shortage in rupee liquidity required the Central Bank to conduct open market operations (OMOs) on a short- and long-term basis in addition to overnight operations," the Central Bank said in a statement.

The liquidity shortages came from defending a peg and maturing swaps.

The cut in the reserve ratio would release liquidity to the interbank markets and reduce a large portion of the short.

On Tuesday, there was an 84 billion rupee overnight liquidity shortage according to central bank data.

The total liquidity shortage filled overnight and through term reverse repurchase deals were 174 billion rupees, by the end of last week, according to central bank data.

By May, which is the latest data available, commercial banks had deposited about 361 billion rupees at the central bank, indicating about 70 rupees or more may be released to the banking system.

Cutting the reserve ratio increase the ability of banks to given new loans from deposits, by reducing the share of cash to be deposited at the central bank.

Analysts say cutting the reserve ratio to inject liquidity in the middle of balance of payments trouble is a tactic that has been practised by the Reserve Bank of India and also Sri Lanka in the past.

The RBI is one of the worst central banks in Asia critics say.

Sri Lanka's ran into balance of payments trouble from February 2018 after a series of term repo auctions failed when interbank rates were below 7.0 percent.

In April the central bank cut rates and injected large volumes to liquidity to de-stabilize the soft peg, critics have pointed out.

The central bank hiked its overnight liquidity window rate by 50 basis points to 9.0 percent.

The full statement is reproduced below:

Economic Research Department 

14.11.2018

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank, at its meeting held on 13 November 2018, decided to reduce the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) applicable on all rupee deposit liabilities of commercial banks by 1.50 percentage points to 6.00 per cent. In order to neutralise the impact of this reduction and maintain its neutral monetary policy stance, the Monetary Board decided to increase the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) of the Central Bank by 75 basis points to 8.00 per cent and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 50 basis points to 9.00 per cent.

The Board arrived at this decision following a careful analysis of current and expected developments in the domestic and global economy and the domestic financial market, with the broad aim of stabilising inflation at mid single digit levels in the medium term to enable the economy to reach its potential.

Tight monetary conditions persisted in the domestic market

The large and persistent shortage in rupee liquidity required the Central Bank to conduct open market operations (OMOs) on a short- and long-term basis in addition to overnight operations. Overnight interest rates were allowed to remain around the upper bound of the policy interest rate corridor reflecting the prevailing liquidity conditions. The yields on government securities experienced a notable increase in recent weeks while most other market interest rates remained high both in nominal and real terms. 2

Year-on-year growth of broad money (M2b) continued its deceleration in September 2018. Nevertheless, there was a possibly short-lived acceleration in credit obtained by the private sector from commercial banks as the businesses advanced their borrowing in anticipation of measures to curb excessive spending on imports. Based on the data up to the third quarter of 2018, credit to all major sectors of the economy recorded an expansion with personal loans and advances showing a notable acceleration. It is expected that the growth of credit to the private sector would return to the expected path as measures taken by the government and the Central Bank gain traction.

Inflation declined to low single digit levels

Headline inflation, based on both the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) and the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI), decelerated below the desired mid single digit levels, largely driven by the decline in volatile food prices. Core inflation has also remained subdued reflecting well anchored inflation expectations due to the tight monetary policy stance maintained in the past. With these developments, headline inflation is projected to remain in low single digit levels during the remainder of the year and is expected to be maintained in the targeted range of 4 – 6 per cent during 2019 and thereafter with appropriate policy adjustments.

Both international and domestic developments affected the external sector performance

The expansion in import expenditure continued to outpace the growth in export earnings during the first nine months of 2018 leading to a wider trade deficit than in the corresponding period in the previous year. However, a slowdown in import expenditure is expected in the period ahead in response to the recent measures adopted as well as the depreciation of the rupee against major currencies. The moderation in tourism related inflows and workers’ remittances remained a concern in terms of the performance of the external current account. In the financial account, both the government securities market and the Colombo Stock Exchange experienced net outflows of foreign investment, particularly in the context of rising global interest rates and elevated political uncertainty.

The significant growth in imports as well as recent capital outflows amidst the broad based strengthening of the US dollar exerted pressure on the exchange rate. Although the pace of depreciation has moderated recently, the Sri Lankan rupee has depreciated by 12.9 per cent against the US dollar during 2018 up to 13 November. Meanwhile, supported by the receipt of the foreign currency term financing facility of US dollars 1 billion by the government, gross official reserves amounted to US dollars 7.9 billion as at end October 2018, providing an import cover of 4.2 months.

Economic growth is expected to remain below envisaged levels in 2018

As per the available economic indicators, real GDP growth is likely to remain subdued and below the envisaged levels in 2018. In order to accelerate growth on a sustainable basis, it is essential that growth enhancing structural reforms are carried out within a coherent and transparent framework, rather than relying on unsustainable short term monetary and fiscal stimulus, which leads to overheating of the economy.

The monetary policy decision is expected to have a neutral effect on the market

Considering the current and expected developments in relation to inflation and economic growth, as well as the current conditions in the domestic money market and the foreign exchange market, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank, at its meeting held on 13 November 2018, was of the view that the continuation of the current neutral monetary policy stance is appropriate. However, the Monetary Board observed that large and persistent liquidity deficit in the domestic money market requires policy intervention, and decided to reduce the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) applicable on all rupee deposit liabilities of commercial banks by 1.50 percentage points to 6.00 per cent from the current level of 7.50 per cent with effect from the next reserve maintenance period commencing 16 November 2018.

The reduction in SRR is expected to release a substantial amount of rupee liquidity to the banking system, thus reducing the cost of funds of banks. At the same time, in order to neutralise the impact of the SRR reduction and maintain its neutral monetary policy stance, the Monetary Board decided to raise policy interest rates of the Central Bank with immediate effect.

Accordingly, the Monetary Board raised the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) by 75 basis points to 8.00 per cent and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 50 basis points to 9.00 per cent, thereby narrowing the policy rate corridor to 100 basis points. These adjustments are also expected to narrow the spread between deposit and lending rates in the market.

Monetary Policy Decision:

Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) 8.00-pct 

Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) 9.00-pct 

Statutory Reserve Ratio 6.00-pct

Sri Lanka’s Hayleys in second successive quarterly loss

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Hayleys group reported a loss of 143.4 million rupees in the September 2018 quarter, with a sharp rise in costs and minority interest earnings, despite sales growing by more than half.

The loss, compared with net profit of 168.3 million rupees the year before, was Hayleys’ second successive quarterly loss, the group having lost 264 million rupees in the June 2018 quarter.

The loss amounted to 1.91 rupees per share in the September 2018 quarter compared with earnings per share of 2.24 rupees the year before.

In the six months to September 2018 the loss per share was 5.39 rupees. The share closed Tuesday at 189.60 rupees, down 5.40 rupees or 2.8 percent.

Second quarter group sales shot up 58 percent to 52.4 billion rupees from the previous year with gross profit up 71 percent to 11.6 billion rupees, interim accounts showed.

Net finance costs of Hayleys, which is in manufacturing, consumer durables, logistics and plantations, more than doubled to 2.6 billion rupees in the September 2018 quarter mainly because of the inclusion of Singer group, borrowings to fund acquisitions and exchange rate fluctuations.

Total profit after tax in the September 2018 quarter fell 23 percent to 509 million rupees while the profit share of non-controlling or minority interest rose 33 percent to 652 million rupees, the accounts showed.

A company statement said Hayleys surpassed 100 billion sales in the first half of the 2018/19 financial year, fueled by topline growth across all of its key businesses.

“The group incurred an increased net finance cost of 5 billion rupees, mainly due to the inclusion of Singer group, financing costs of the recent acquisitions and exchange rate fluctuation.”

All segments except for plantations contributed to the healthy expansion in turnover for the group during the half-year, the statement said.

“Revenue within the Consumer & Retail segment expanded substantially from 2.7 billion rupees to 31.5 billion rupees in 1HFY18/19, bolstered by the contributions of Singer (Sri Lanka) Group which were acquired by Hayleys at end of 2Q18, generating 2.4 billion rupees in operating profits.”

Hayleys records turnover of Rs.103Bn for six months ending September

LBO - Hayleys PLC, a diversified conglomerate posted a 65 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) increase in turnover up to 103 billion rupees for the six months period ending 30 September 2018.

The Group posted strong operating profits which expanded to 6.8 billion rupees from 3.2 billion rupees in the corresponding period.

The Group incurred an increased net finance cost of 5 billion rupees, mainly due to the inclusion of Singer Group, financing costs of the recent acquisitions and exchange rate fluctuation.

However, the Group Profit Before Tax (PBT) for the period improved to 1.8 billion rupees from 1.4 billion rupees in 1HFY18/19 while Profit After Tax (PAT) also improved to 769 million rupees from 719 million rupees.

All segments except for Plantations have contributed to the healthy expansion in turnover for the Group during the period in review. Revenue within the Consumer & Retail segment expanded substantially from 2.7 billion rupees to 31.5 billion rupees in 1HFY18/19, bolstered by the contributions of Singer (Sri Lanka) Group which were acquired by Hayleys at end of 2Q18, generating 2.4 billion rupees in operating profits.

Commenting on the Group’s performance over the first half, Hayleys PLC Chairman and Chief Executive, Mohan Pandithage said: “The Group was able to achieve significant growth driven by the investments we have made towards the acquisition of Singer (Sri Lanka),where the Consumer & Retail sector has spearheaded the improvement of the topline during 1HFY18/19.”

“While anticipating further improvement of results from this sector , Group’s continuous investments and efforts to improve quality and efficiency through well-placed processes across every business sector will yield greater results for Hayleys PLC in the future.”

During the first half, the Group’s Transportation & Logistics segment, supported by its recent acquisitions, posted a turnover of Rs. 22.7 billion, as compared with Rs. 16.4 billion in the previous period, leading to an operating profit of Rs. 1.4 billion, from a previous Rs. 1.1 billion.

Turnover in the Group’s Eco Solutions segment rose from Rs. 2.1 billion to Rs. 3.4 billion while operating profits of the sector rose significantly from Rs. 70 million to Rs. 193 million. Meanwhile, turnover in the Group’s Purification Products segment expanded from Rs. 7.1 billion to Rs. 9 billion while operating profits increased from Rs. 358 million to Rs. 614 million. Similarly, the Group’s Hand Protection segment posted revenue of Rs. 8.4 billion, against a previous Rs. 8 billion and operating profits rising significantly to Rs. 521million, as compared with Rs. 98 million in 1HFY18/19.

The Agriculture sector’s turnover expanded to Rs. 5.8 billion, as compared with Rs. 5.5 billion, while operating profits improving to Rs.462 million from Rs.234 million in the corresponding period.Following a series of climate-impacted yields, Sri Lanka’s Agricultural sector is forecast to rebound in the Maha season with the timely rains experienced in the past few weeks which augurs well for the Hayleys Agriculture sector.

Poor weather conditions and world market prices have hampered the Plantations sector, resulting in reduced turnover and operating profits, which ended the first half at Rs. 6.4 billion, and Rs. 29 million respectively.

Hayleys Global Beverages (Pvt) Ltd (HGBL), a unit of diversified conglomerate Hayleys PLC announced a joint venture partnership with Germany’s botanicals giant Martin Bauer Group (BMG). With the demand for tea and herbal ingredients forecasted to grow, this collaboration is expected to harness the immense potential of HGBL for the Group.

Commercial Bank weathers external challenges to post strong 9-month results

Sri Lanka’s benchmark private bank, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has demonstrated its resilience in adverse conditions, weathering the twin challenges of high taxes and impairment charges to post a healthy growth in most key performance indicators at the end of the third quarter of 2018.

The Bank’s gross income surpassed the Rs 100 billion mark in nine months for the first time growing by 21.61% to Rs 102.841 billion, with interest income improving by a robust 17.39% to Rs 88.825 billion on the back of a strong loan book growth. Interest expenses increased at a lower rate of 12.09% to Rs 53.160 billion, due to timely re-pricing of liabilities despite a substantial increase in deposits. Notably, both deposits and loans have recorded YoY growth of more than Rs 125 billion.

Net interest income for the nine months at Rs 35.666 billion represented an improvement of Rs 7.424 billion or 26.29%. Incidentally, net interest income accounted for 73.81% of the total operating income of the Bank.

The Bank reported a 17.85% improvement in net fees and commission income, amounting to Rs 7.249 billion for the nine months and representing 15% of the total operating income. Other income, including exchange profit, recoveries of loans written off/provided for and net gains/losses from trading and financial instruments, grew by a remarkable 244.56% to Rs 5.406 billion. The growth in the exchange profit of the Bank was mainly due to revaluation of foreign currency assets consequent to the depreciation of the Rupee against major currencies. However, the Bank reported a loss of Rs 1.442 billion on trading, as against a profit of Rs 351 million last year, mainly due to losses suffered on matured SWAPs during the period.

As a result, the total operating income of Rs 48.321 billion for the nine months ending 30th September 2018 reflected a growth of 34.37% over the corresponding period of last year.

The prevailing weak market conditions resulted in an increase in non-performing loans and advances, pushing the total impairment charges for loans and other losses for the period under review to Rs 6.864 billion from Rs 1.494 billion for the first nine months of 2017. Consequently, the growth of the net operating income was hampered, restricting it to 20.28% to reach Rs 41.456 billion.

Operating expenses at Rs 17.189 billion for the period, reflected the Bank’s success in managing its overheads with an increase of 16.54% despite salary increments and the costs of expansion. As a result, the Bank reported a profit before VAT and NBT of Rs 24.267 billion for the nine months, an improvement of 23.07%. The VAT and NBT on Financial Services for the period amounted to Rs. 4.213 billion compared to Rs. 3.486 billion paid in the corresponding period last year, reflecting an increase of 20.86%.

The Bank’s filing with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) reported that profit before income tax grew 23.55% to Rs 20.054 billion as at 30th September 2018. The Bank disclosed that income tax had increased by 38.09% to Rs 6.293 billion for the nine months compared to Rs. 4.557 billion in the corresponding period last year, primarily due to the removal of most of the income tax exemptions enjoyed by the banking industry with the introduction of the new Inland Revenue Act which became effective from April 01, 2018.

Consequently, the Bank’s net profit after tax for the nine months improved by Rs 2.086 billion or 17.87% to Rs 13.761 billion, while the profit after tax of Rs 5.115 billion for third quarter, recorded an improvement of 23.71% over the corresponding quarter of 2017, despite a rise in impairment provisions and escalating tax expenses.

Commenting on these results, Commercial Bank Chairman Mr Dharma Dheerasinghe said: “Our nine-month performance reflects the vagaries of the period, with the Bank overcoming the challenges of slower business growth through a combination of prudent banking practices and agile responses to changing conditions. We expect conditions to be even more challenging in the fourth quarter, but are confident of weathering them in our own way.”

The Bank’s Managing Director/CEO Mr S. Renganathan said: “Rising NPL ratios are a concern for the entire industry, and are compelling Banks to increase provisioning for bad debts. In the case of Commercial Bank, NPL ratios are still lower than industry averages, and timely re-pricing of liabilities and strong deposit growth have enabled the Bank to keep interest expenditure growth to a significantly lower rate than interest income growth. Nevertheless, the contribution of net interest income to operating income has declined, indicating that fund-based operations of the Bank are now contributing substantially to income. We are proud that the Bank amidst many challenges has been able to maintain a consistent growth in its performance in all key areas. ”

Total assets of the Bank grew by Rs 98.257 billion or 8.59% over the nine months to reach Rs 1.242 trillion as at 30th September 2018. Asset growth over the preceding 12 months totalled Rs 142.645 billion, reflecting YoY growth of 12.98%.

Gross loans and receivables from customers increased by Rs 102.511 billion or 13.58% since 31st December 2017 to Rs 857.219 billion at the end of the third quarter, recording an average increase of over Rs 11 billion per month. The increase over the preceding 12 months was Rs 132.388 billion, reflecting YOY growth of 18.26%.

The Bank’s deposits increased to Rs 943.615 billion in the period reviewed, growing by 11% or Rs 93.488 billion since 31st December 2017, at a monthly average of more than Rs 10 billion. Deposit growth over the 12 months from 30th September 2017 totalled Rs 125.051 billion, recording YoY growth of 15.28%.

In other key indicators, the Bank’s gross and net NPL ratios stood at 2.83% and 1.68% respectively from 2.02% and 1.00% a year ago, due to the increase in non-performing loans. The interest margin continued to improve, from 3.62% in 2017, to 4% for the nine months reviewed.

The Bank’s Tier 1 capital ratio at 11.390% as at 30th September 2018 was well above the 8.875% required under Basel III, while the Total capital ratio of 15.820% for the period was also comfortably above the Basel III requirement of 12.875%. The required capital ratios are due to increase to 10% for Tier I and 14% for Total capital ratio from January 2019.
Return on assets (before tax) improved to 2.25% for the nine months reviewed, from 2.15% for 2017 while the Return on equity stood at 16.22% at the end of the third quarter, a marginal drop due to an increase in the shareholder funds. The net assets value per share increased to Rs 118.43 at the end of the review period from Rs. 107.54 as at end 2017.

At Group level, Commercial Bank, its subsidiaries and associates reported profit before tax of Rs 20.098 billion for the nine months, an improvement of 22.50%. Profit after tax for the period grew by 16.93% to Rs 13.767 billion.

The only Sri Lankan Bank to be ranked among the world’s top 1000 banks for eight years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 263 branches and 800 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The Bank has won multiple awards both local and international in 2017 and 20 international awards in the first eight months of 2018.

Commercial Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon and a Microfinance company in Nay PyiTaw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.

(Media Release)

Sri Lanka's Sampath Bank Sep net slightly down on NPLs

ECONOMYNEXT - Despite improving interest margins, profits at Sri Lanka's Sampath Bank Plc fell a marginal 0.8 percent from a year earlier to 2.88 billion rupees in the September 2018 quarter on higher provisioning for bad loans and trading losses, interim results showed.

The bank reported earnings of 10.90 rupees a share in the quarter. In the nine months to end September, earnings were 37.52 rupees a share on a profit of 9.9 billion rupees, up 13.2 percent from a year earlier, accounts filed with Colombo Stock Exchange showed.

The banking stock was trading 1 rupee higher at 233 rupees on Tuesday.

In the quarter, net interest income grew 31.2 percent from a year earlier to 10.22 billion rupees as interest income increased 19.4 percent to 26.3 billion rupees and interest costs grew a slower 12.9 percent to 16 billion rupees.

Net fees and commission incomes grew 23.2 percent to 2.6 billion rupees.

The bank reported a trading loss of 1.2 billion rupees in the quarter, down from a profit of 251 million rupees a year earlier.

Other operating income rose 350 percent to 2.9 billion rupees.

Bad loans provisioning surged 383.5 percent to 3.94 billion rupees due to the adoption of strict accounting standards and non-performing loans rising.

Gross non-performing loans were 4.25 percent of total loans at end September 2018, up from 1.64 percent nine months earlier.

Operating expenses rose 8.5 percent to 5 billion rupees which includes personnel costs of 2.3 billion rupees, down a marginal 0.5 percent a year earlier.

Sampath Bank's loan book expanded 12.2 percent from nine months earlier to 658 billion rupees at end December 2017 while deposits grew 7.3 percent to 680.8 billion rupees.

The banking group's interest margin improved to 4.27 percent in this period, up from 3.91 percent nine months earlier.

The bank's Tier I capital adequacy ratio was 11.67 percent at end September 2018, up from 10.21 percent nine months earlier and above the minimum Basel III regulatory requirement of 8.875 percent.

Total capital adequacy was at 15.61 percent, up from 14.33 percent nine months earlier and above the regulatory minimum of 12.875 percent.