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Com Bank hunts for strategic partner

Commercial Bank of Sri Lanka is looking for an alliance with another strategic partner following the breakdown of the much talked of NDB Bank deal.


Chairman Mahendra Amarasuriya
Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

"The Bank is looking for a suitable strategic partner, if it properly fits with our own requirements Chairman Mahendra Amarasuriya told the Daily News Business.

He said the Bank has been growing at an average of 20 per cent year on year but with the high level of inflation and interest rates in the country they are expecting a growth of 30 per cent in 2008. Amarasuriya said the banking sector is very competitive which is why they constantly adopt cost cutting measures by bringing modern technology to make profits.

The pre-tax profit of Commercial Bank in 2006 (after charging it) amounted to Rs. 970.958 million. After providing for this Financial Value Added Tax, the profit before corporate tax amounted to Rs. 4.321 billion, a growth of Rs. 653.105 million or 17.81%.

Currently the Bank has 160 branches islandwide using IT technology to increase productivity without removing a single employee of the company, he said. Amarasuriya said that country's inflation is over 20 per cent and the GDP is at 6- 7 per cent. Therefore to be competitive in the market we have been trying our best to achieve 30 per cent growth in this year (2008).

Commercial Bank became the "Banker of the Year" of the Global Finance Magazine and "Best Bank" of the International Journal (Euromoney) based on maintaining of low non-performing loans and cost over increase loans.

Amarasuriya said 2008 would be a challenging year and they expect to set up many branches in the country as a part of their expansion programme.

Where the international operations are concerned the Bangladesh branch has recorded a 15-20 per cent growth while Middle-East servicing centres are also performing well, he said.

NDB Bank's plan to go for a strategic alliance with Commercial Bank did not work out due to management and structural problems of both banks.

NDB is also looking for a strategic partner and is currently looking to consolidate to face the challenges in the sector.

With these developments NBD Bank is also looking for a strategic partner that meets the NDB Bank's requirements.

Chairman Commercial Bank Mahendra Amarasuriya

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