MBSL profits on upward trend

MERCHANT Bank of Sri Lanka Limited (MBSL) recorded a net profit of Rs. 120.3 million for the company and a net profit of Rs. 136.4 million for the Group as a whole for the 9 months ended September 30, 2005.

These profits indicate a growth of 59% for the Company and 74% for the Group compared with the corresponding period in 2004.

In terms of the results for the quarter ended September 30, 2005, the Company has made a net profit of Rs. 56.27 million while the Group has recorded a net profit of Rs. 61.9 million.

When compared with that of the corresponding period of the year 2004, the net profit of the Company was Rs. 30 million, while that of the Group was Rs. 32.4 million.

The growth in terms of income for the company was 87% and 57% in terms of the Group.

A noteworthy feature for the three months ended September 30, 2005 is that the remarkable growth in profits of Rs. 56.27 Mn for the Company and Rs. 61.92 Mn for the Group, which is an incremental growth of 88 % for the Company and 91% for the group as a whole.

In terms of the Net Interest Income upto September 30, 2005, MBSL has recorded an income of Rs. 206.9 million and a sum of Rs. 317.4 million for the Group.

When comparing the performance with that of the corresponding period in 2004, the growth in net income is 12.8% for the Company and 6.2% for the Group.

MBSL's Chief Operations Officer Gamini Karunatilleke said that the Company's net assets had also considerably improved to Rs. 13.85 per share as at September 30, 2005 compared to the negative figure of Rs. 2.16 as at September 30, 2004.

The Group's net assets per share as at September 30, 2005 were Rs. 17. 31 compared to LKR 0.66 as at September 30, 2004. The earnings per share of the Company upto September 30, 2005 was Rs. 2.67 which marks a significant growth of 32.2% compared to Rs. 2.02 upto September 30, 2004.