Seylan Bank Public Share Issue Oversubscribed
The Seylan Bank’s Public Share Issue of 54,290,000 Ordinary (Voting)
Shares to raise Rs. 1.9 bn at Rs. 35 per share was oversubscribed on
Friday.
Chairman of Seylan Bank Eastman Narangoda said, “Given the crisis the
Bank underwent towards the end of last year, this oversubscription is an
unequivocal endorsement by the people of Sri Lanka demonstrating the
confidence they have in the Bank.
This has been a great team effort. On behalf of Seylan Bank, I thank
everybody who contributed to this success story and reassure them that
Seylan Bank will grow from strength to strength and live up to their
expectations”.
Under a separate Private Placement, the Bank of Ceylon and Sri Lanka
Insurance Corporation were allocated 13 million and 19.15 million
Ordinary (Voting) Shares of the Bank.
The total capital expected to be generated from both the Private
Placement and Public Offering will be Rs. 3.025 billion. This issue is
primarily aimed at facilitating the future expansion of the Bank.
Among the significant initiatives made by the Seylan Bank’s new
Chairman Eastman Narangoda and the Board of Directors were - the
introduction of proper corporate governance practices by the appointment
of Board Committees for Audit, Risk Management, Nomination, HR and
Remuneration, staffing key management positions with appropriately
skilled professionals and commissioning and launching a three-year
Strategic Plan. By implementing the Strategic Plan together with the
initiatives, the Bank consolidated its position as a reliable and
trustworthy player in Sri Lanka’s banking industry.
The Seylan Bank effectively reduced its expenditure by Rs. 860 mn
within the past eight months compared to 2008. However, under the
prevailing economic conditions Seylan Bank’s progress on the road to
full recovery is quite noteworthy. |