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| Friday, 3 December 2004 |
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People's Bank posts over Rs. 1.8 billion profits for first nine months in 2004 The People's Bank has recorded an impressive profit of Rs. 1.828 billion for the first nine months ending September 2004, as against a comparative value of Rs. 1.592 billion in the previous year. This represents a 14.8% growth over the comparative value recorded in the year 2003. The results for the current year have been positively impacted by a lower value of provisions for loan losses than that of the prior year. The People's Bank implemented the Central Bank's hair cut provisioning level for the diminishing value of securities relating to Non Performing Loans, ahead of the actual implementation date. As a result full provisioning has been made for non performing loans of the bank as at date. The non performing loans ratio for the bank has now been reduced from 18% as at the end of the prior year, to 15% as at September 2004, with 82% of the value of the non performing loans that are outstanding having a cash cover by way of a charge made to the bank's Profit and Loss account. The balance of securities relates to tangible property mortgages etc, which are held by the bank. The bank had a successful nine months in relation to deposit growth where deposits have increased from Rs. 153 billion to Rs. 175 billion and the bank continues to be the market leader for the pawning product. The "Sisu Udana" product for school children, the "Isuru Udana" product for newborns, the "Vanitha Vasana" product for women and the "Jana Jaya" branded savings account are all reflecting very healthy growth trends in 2004. The bank during the nine months has re-launched "Jaya Nivasa" housing loans product and has also packaged a special product for senior citizens termed as "Parinatha". The Restructuring of the bank is continuing and is a significant reason that underlies the consistent and resurgent profitability of the bank. The bank is also endeavouring to improve the Information Technology platform and customer services delivery channels to provide an improved quality of customer service to its nearly 10 millon account holders spread across 324 branches, 187 pawning and savings centers and 103 service counters. The bank also has 97 ATMs in operation and has also inter linked 143 branches in principal cities to facilitate automated inter bank transactions. |
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