Margin Growth

July 21, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Seylan Bank group net profit shot up 66 percent to 312 million rupees in the June 2010 quarter from a year ago as interest margins improved, a stock exchange filing said.



Deposits and performing loans grew slightly and the bank managed to reduce bad loans.

Interest income fell 21 percent to 4.2 billion rupees and interest expenses fell at a faster 43 percent to 2.

2 billion rupees, allowing net interest income to rise 37 percent to two billion rupees.

Sri Lankan banks usually cut deposit rates faster than lending rates and raise lending rates before deposit rates to protect margins.

Seylan Bank's non-interest income was almost stagnant at 488 million rupees.

Annualised basic earnings per share rose 9.

33 percent to 4.92 rupees in June 2010 from the year before.

The bank was put under state-mandated management after a run and is now controlled by state-run Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation with a 15 percent stake and Bank of Ceylon with 10 percent.

The Employees Provident Fund has increased its stake in the bank to 4.45 percent during the quarter from 3.

03 percent at the end of March 2010, the accounts showed.

Other big shareholders were