BoC’s PAT up
To Rs. 1,793m in 1H, 2009:
At a glance
* Pre-tax profits recorded as Rs. 2,707 m
* Total revenue reached Rs 32b
* Sharp increase in foreign exchange income
The Bank of Ceylon (BoC), the largest state-owned diversified
financial institution in Sri Lanka, which is celebrating its 70th
anniversary recorded a healthy performance across all its businesses in
the six months ended June 30, 2009. The Bank’s pre-tax profits for the
first half of 2009 recorded Rs. 2,707 million compared to Rs. 1,809
million for the corresponding period in 2008, an increase of Rs. 898
million or 50 percent.
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BoC head office |
In terms of post tax profit, the half year results amounted to Rs.
1,793 million compared to Rs. 917 million reported for the corresponding
period in 2008, an impressive post tax profit growth of Rs. 876 million
or 96 percent.
At the fully consolidated level, the BoC Group pre-tax profit was Rs.
2,870 million for the first half of 2009, an increase of Rs. 807 million
or 39 percent over the corresponding period in 2008.
Among the notable factors contributing to the fast-growing profit is
the total revenue, which reached Rs. 32 billion, an increase of 19
percent over the corresponding period of the previous year. Such
increases were derived not only from interest income but also from other
sources such as fees, commissions and foreign exchange.
The Bank managed its fund-base well with net interest rising from Rs.
5,939 million in the first half of 2008, to Rs. 7,155 million in the
corresponding period in 2009 reflecting a significant growth of Rs.
1,216 million or 20 percent.
The other income of the Bank increased from Rs. 3,744 million in the
first half of 2008 to Rs. 5,134 in the corresponding period 2009, a
growth of Rs. 1,390 million or 37 percent. In terms of foreign exchange
income, a sharp increase from Rs. 413 million in the first half of 2008
to Rs. 1,223 million in the corresponding period of 2009 was recorded
with a growth of Rs. 810 million or 196 percent.
The Bank’s continued effort in NPA recoveries enhanced the amount by
24 percent over the corresponding period 2008 while investment in
government securities yielded a capital gain of Rs. 1,504 million
resulting from decling interest rates. The fee based income streams also
continued their momentum reporting Rs. 1,734 million for the first half
2009.
In terms of operating expenses in aggregate, excluding loan loss
provisions, the amount increased by 10 percent over the previous year.
The increased expenditure resulted in line with rising business volumes.
Despite such increased expenditure, the cost to income ratio improved to
61 percent for the period under review due to expansion of business
activities and resulting income.
The BoC’s achievement in mobilizing deposits is significant, which
displays customer confidence. The BoC increased its deposits to Rs. 359
billion by the end of first half 2009, a growth of Rs. 47 billion or 15
percent against the corresponding figure reported in 2008. |
