Once troubled Seylan Bank sees 1Q profits rise 38%

• Proposes Rights Issue later this month to raise Rs. 4.6bn
• Net profits rose 126% in FY2010

Seylan Bank recorded a profit of Rs. 256.3 million for the first quarter of 2011, a 38 percent increase from Rs. 185.9 million a year earlier. The bank’s pre-tax profit was Rs. 395 million, up by nearly 36 percent from the Rs. 291.7 million a year earlier, the bank announced yesterday (2).

 

Seylan Bank Chairman Eastman Narangoda attributed this achievement to growing public faith and confidence in the once-troubled bank.

 

"Today we enjoy both stability and profitability. Our aggressive recovery which encompassed many areas, coupled with our far-reaching strategic plan and the commitment of our staff, have largely been responsible for successfully restoring investor confidence. Needless to say, the dividends are being enjoyed by all stakeholders today," Narangoda said.

 

"My board, the management and staff of Seylan Bank are very confident that 2011 will be yet another record making year and that we will surpass all expectations in terms of overall performance and profitability," he said.

 

Seylan Bank is planning to go in for a Rights Issue of 43,333,333 Ordinary Voting Shares and 41,186,666 Non Voting Shares in May 2011, through which it proposes to raise Rs. 4,691,533,285, which will be proposed at an EGM to be held later this month, the bank said in a statement.

 

The bank recorded a net profit of Rs. 1.2 billion for the 2010 financial year, which was a 126 percent increase compared to Rs. 543 million for 2009. Pre-tax profits, at Rs. 1.9 billion, was up 124 percent from 2009, the highest ever profit figure earned by the bank since its inception, it said.

 

Creating a new paradigm in financial reporting for the second year in succession was its Annual Report for 2010. Titled ‘The Business Case’, this handsome publication was dedicated to all the bank’s stakeholders. It discussed how Seylan Bank had renewed stakeholder confidence and made remarkable progress throughout year 2010.

 

In March this year, Seylan Bank announced the appointment of veteran banker, Kapila Ariyaratne as its new General Manager / Chief Executive Officer. Ariyaratne is a versatile banker with more than 25 years of wide ranging experience in the banking industry.

 

"Having achieved optimum performance standards based on available resources, Seylan now looks to develop its future business strategies to deliver even greater results to all stakeholders and add further shareholder value by aligning itself to the exciting new opportunities in the rapidly transforming local economy", Ariyaratne says.

 

Seylan Bank now meets or exceeds all the statutory requirements stipulated by the CBSL.

 

 source - www.island.lk