Seylan Bank continues its steady performance

~ Records Profit-After-Tax of Rs. 3 Billion in 3Q The Bank closed the 9 months ending 30^th September 2017 with a post-tax profit of Rs.3,002 Mn, a moderate growth of 6% over the corresponding period last year. These results were impacted by provisions made on account of a legacy NPA, payment of which is due from the Compensation Tribunal. Growth in advances coupled with the rise in interest rates enabled interest income to grow by 35% and interest expenses increased by 48% due to funds moving into higher yielding fixed deposits. Further impact on interest cost was partly cushioned by CASA base over  Rs. 90 Bn. As a result Net interest income recorded a commendable growth of 17.2 % to reach Rs. 11,376Mn. Net fees and commission income recorded an impressive growth of 25% for the period under review driven by core banking related transactional fees and net trading income recorded a gain (compared to mark to market losses in the prior period) due to favourable movements in the yields of the underlying Government Securities. Total expenses increased by 14.8% from Rs. 7,146 Mn to Rs. 8,200 Mn and were fuelled by new investments in technology and human capital developments. Cost management initiatives coupled with the implementation of lean concepts across the Bank has aided in rationalising key cost lines. The Bank reported a credit growth of 8.3 % increasing the advances from Rs. 236 Bn to Rs.255 Bn while the deposit base grew from Rs. 273 Bn to Rs. 295 Bn during the nine months ended 30^th September 2017.  Bank CASA ratio stood over 30 %. The Gross NPA (Net of IIS) Ratio stood at 4.67% as at 30^th September 2017, a reduction of approximately 0.5% over the three months from the previous quarter. Overall as a result of the strong performance during the nine months, Bank’s Earning per Share(EPS) improved from Rs. 8.20 to Rs. 8.54 . The Bank recorded a Return on Average Assets (ROAA) of 1.60% and Return on Equity (ROE) of 13.44%. The Bank’s Net Asset value per share as at 30^th  September 2017 was 92.53(Group Rs. 97.08). The Bank’s Common Equity Tier 1, Total Tier 1 and Total Capital Adequacy Ratio remained strong at 10.73%, 10.73% and 13.07% respectively as at 30^th September 2017, as against the statutory minimum as per the BASEL III requirement applicable with effect from 1^st  July 2017. As at 30^th September 2017, the Bank network comprised of 167 Banking centres, 203 ATMs and 6 CDMs giving seamless accessibility to its customers across the country. The Bank is currently in the midst of rolling out its 2020 strategic plan focusing on relationship building, SME sector, Digital Channels and sales. The Bank continued its CSR initiatives focusing on education and accelerated its libraries project for under privilege schools. During the nine months 19 school libraries were opened taking the overall number of libraries opened under the project to 139. Photo caption: Chairman of Seylan Bank Mr. Ravi Dias (left) and Director / CEO of Seylan Bank Mr. Kapila Ariyaratne