Saturday, 15 November 2014

Com Bank records 9-month operating profit of Rs 13.119 bn

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has reported profit before VAT and NBT of Rs 13.119 billion for the nine months ended September.

‘In spite of a healthy10.38% growth inOperating Income, Profit before tax grew by 7.77 % due to the imposition of Nation Building Tax (NBT) effective January this year, the Bank said in a filing with the Colombo Stock Exchange, a press release said.

The release adds: ‘Profit after tax improved by 7.89% to Rs 7.805 billion despite lower margins during the period under review resulting in gross income growing 2.14% to Rs 54.644 billion, the Bank said.

‘Net interest income for the nine months was up 6.23% to Rs 19.789 billion, and other income comprising of commissions, exchange profit, recoveries and gains on trading, grew by a noteworthy 21.63% to Rs 8.366 billion, largely due to gains from financial investments.

‘Commercial Bank Chairman Dharma Dheerasinghe described the Bank’s nine-month performance as "characteristically robust," with higher business volumes compensating to some degree, for the reduced margins.

‘The Bank’s Managing Director/CEO Jegan Durairatnam said momentum had picked up during the third quarter, during which pre and post-tax profit had grown by a healthy 21.62% and 20.40% respectively over the corresponding three months of 2013, to Rs 4.739 billion and Rs 3.326 billion.

‘Net operating income for the period improved by 9.89% to Rs 24.713 billion, despite an increase in impairment charges by 14.04% to Rs 3.443 billion, mainly due to a change in the basis of computation of provisioning for individual impairment. This change is intended to improve provision cover.

‘Operating expenses for the period under review grew by 9.35% to Rs 11.594 billion.

‘Total assets increased by Rs 140.683 billion or23.19% over the nine months to Rs 747.290 billion, from Rs 606.607 billion at 31st December 2013, averaging a growth of over Rs 15 billion a month.

‘Total loans and receivables to banks and customers amounted to Rs 482.940 billion at the end of the period under review, an increase of Rs 63.435 billion or 15.12% since end December 2013. This represents an average loan book growth of Rs 7 billion a month during the period.

‘Total deposits grew by Rs 53 billion or 11.75% over the nine months at an average of almost Rs 6 billion a month, to Rs 504.161 billion as at 30th September, 2014.
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