Category: Banking and Finance

Aug 11, 2009 (LBO) – RAM Ratings said it has lifted the Rating Watch on Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) and also confirmed the long- and short-term ratings at AA- and P1. The long term rating has a stable outlook, the rating agency said in a statement. The AA- ratings of the bank’s 300 […]

Aug 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan commercial banks which seem to enjoy wide interest margins on the surface have low profitability, amid high taxation and rising bad loans, a senior banker has warned.“Capital providers would probably not think of banks as a prime sector to invest in this market” Nihal Fonseka, chief executive of […]

Aug 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank said profits for the June quarter went up 20 percent to 449 million rupees from a year ago on higher interest margins, fee-based income and loan recoveries, despite a shrinking loan book. Sampath Bank said in a stock exchange filing that group interest income for the […]

Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Pan Asia Banking Corporation (PABC) June quarter profits shot up 346 percent on strong net interest income and higher fee income despite rising bad loans, interim results showed. In the first six months of 2009, the banks performing loan book was up 12.2 percent to 10.66 billion rupees, […]

Aug 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank (HNB) said group net profit shot up 76 percent to 996 million rupees in the June 2009 quarter from a year ago as interest margins improved but loan growth slowed. The balance sheet showed a steep 330 percent increase in holdings of government securities to […]

Aug 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank group said June 2009 quarter net profit fell 6.38 percent to 507.1 million rupees from a year ago owing to lower fee-based income, foreign exchange losses and weak returns from strategic investments. DFCC Group’s provisions for bad and doubtful debts had gone up 8.25 percent to […]

Aug 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank said it plans to issue 86 million ordinary shares at 35 rupees each in a one-for-two public offering to existing shareholders and a private placement with two state-run financial institutions.The current stated capital of Seylan Bank is 2.5 billion rupees comprising of 43.56 million ordinary shares, […]

Aug 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank is expanding to the island’s north and the east helping boost an economic revival in the areas after the end of war three decade war, an official said. Sampath sees more potential in area as already business volumes are moving up. “In the eastern region pawning […]

Aug 01, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka unit of Standard Chartered Bank has retained its ‘AAA(lka)’ rating from Fitch, but the agency said its capital was hurt by a bad loan originating from oil derivative sales to a state-run oil distributor. The rating had a ‘stable’ outlook and reflected the financial strength of Standard […]

July 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank said it had stepped up efforts to recover loans and improved credit evaluation and corporate governance under new management which was appointed by the banking regulator. It said in a statement the bank, which faced a run after the collapse of an unlisted subsidiary of its […]

July 29, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka said it has confirmed Hatton National Bank’s (HNB) National Long-term rating at ‘AA-(lka)’ with a stable outlook. The rating reflects the bank’s good profitability, asset quality and capitalisation among local commercial banks, Fitch said in a statement. Fitch also confirmed the bank’s subordinated debentures at ‘A+(lka)’. HNB’s […]

July 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank said net profit for the June 2009 quarter fell 39 percent to 188 million rupees from a year ago with both interest income and fee income falling and bad loans rising.The bank, part of the Ceylinco group, said in a stock exchange filing that interest income […]