Closely held Seylan Bank and its subsidiaries saw profits shrink last year but its CEO says aggressive management of its loan book should produce a better performance this year.
The bank among the last to publish 2004 annual results, is also heavily exposed to Ceylinco group companies.
Excerpts from an interview with the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Ajita Pasqual:
Shamindra Kulamannage: Do you think that in the new minimum capital requirement will force consolidation in the sector?
Ajita Pasqual: In Ceylinco Group we have specialized banks and the capital requirement is upto Rs. 5 billion. It would be tough. These guys are only given seed capital; we need to support them.
SK: Do you see consolidation within the group?
AP: I don’t see any consolidation within the group.
SK: Last year there has been fairly significant drop in Seylan profitability.
How would you analyze that?
AP: The turnover showed one percent growt