Sampath Bank PAT up 29.8 percent in 1H

Sampath Bank continued to perform well in the second quarter 2009, recording a successful half year for 2009, with the Post-Tax Profit rising to Rs.829.765 Mn, from Rs.639.068 Mn compared to the corresponding period in 2008, which amounted to an impressive PAT growth of Rs. 190.697 Mn or 29.8 percent.

Pre Tax Profit of the Bank for the period, crossed the Rs.1.5 Billion mark for the half year, and stood at Rs.1,532.965 Mn, as against Rs. 1,254.165 Mn for the corresponding period in the previous year, recording a PBT growth of Rs. 278.8 Mn or 22.2 percent.

Post Tax Profit of the Sampath Group, which consists of the Bank, its six Subsidiaries and an overseas Associate Company, was even higher with the PAT rising to Rs. 846.474 Mn in the first half of 2009, from Rs.699.744 Mn recorded in the corresponding period in 2008, recording a growth of Rs. 146.730 Mn, or 21.0 percent.

Pre Tax Profit of the Group amounted to Rs.1,580.260 Mn during the period under review, rising from Rs.1,342.523 Mn compared to the corresponding period 2008, reflecting a PBT growth of Rs. 237.737 Mn or 17.7 percent.

The Bank continued to manage its fund-base professionally, with net interest income rising from Rs. 2,980.8 Mn in the first half of 2008, to Rs. 3,619.1 Mn in the same period 2009, which recorded an impressive growth of Rs. 638.3 Mn or 21.4 percent. Despite a moderate growth in the fund base of the Bank, which was very much in line with the industry trends during the period, with the average balances of interest earning assets and interest bearing funds of the Bank increasing by 6.6 percent and 4.2 percent over the corresponding period last year, the Bank was able to achieve this significant growth in Net Interest Income, primarily through improving the net interest margins. The net interest margin rose from 4.44 percent in the first half of 2008 to 5.16 percent in the first half of 2009, which was a further improvement of 0.09 percent, over 5.07 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2009.