Business

ComBank posts ‘steady results’ amid impacts of pandemic

Published

3 years ago

2020/11/14

Gains from government securities, foreign exchange (FX) swap trading and FX trading activities have enabled the Commercial Bank of Ceylon Group to mitigate to some extent the severity of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on profits in a period of reduced interest income and substantially higher impairment provisioning compared to the corresponding quarter of the last year.

The Group, comprising of Sri Lanka’s benchmark private bank, its subsidiaries and an associate, has reported total operating income of Rs 55.818 billion for the nine months ending 30th September 2020, achieving a growth of 11.84% mainly by more than doubling other income for the period from Rs 5.804 billion to Rs 12.262 billion, even though net interest income, the largest component, only improved by a marginal 1.02% to Rs 36.796 billion.

Financial statements filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) show that the capital gains on Treasury investments generated a net gain of Rs 4.658 billion on de-recognition of financial assets, more than a 10-fold increase over the Rs 444.754 million for the corresponding nine months of last year; that mark to market gains on Treasury Bills and Bonds enabled a conversion of a net loss of Rs 294.249 million on trading to a net gain of Rs 749.059 million for the nine months, and that exchange profit grew by 25.2% to Rs 6.586 billion from FX swap trading and other foreign exchange trading activities as well as translation gains on the Bank’s US dollar reserves due to an approximately 2% depreciation of the rupee against the dollar in the period under review.

With interest rates coming down, the Group was able to reduce interest expenses by 7.70% to Rs 56.240 billion in a period when interest income declined by 4.44% to Rs 93.035 billion, mainly due to modification losses on interest concessions granted as pandemic relief to borrowers, the Bank reported. Consequently, the achievement of a 1.02% improvement in net interest income at the end of nine months is noteworthy, considering that net interest income had declined by 5.71% at the end of the first half of the year. The turnaround was made possible by a 14.26% increase in net interest income in the third quarter alone.

Meanwhile, net fees and commissions had reduced by 11.97% for the nine months to Rs 6.760 billion as a result of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially on trade related activities and the reduction of fees and charges by the Bank as required by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).

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Business

Pelwatte Dairy-led Chef’s Guild supported Chef Event energises Sri Lanka tourism

Published

1 day ago

2023/06/10

Thilina Walpola

Pelwatte Dairy, the leading local dairy brand in Sri Lanka that produces a range of dairy products and saves valuable foreign exchange, recently stepped into promoting a cornerstone in Sri Lanka’s culinary and hospitality sectors, the chefs of Sri Lanka.

The Chef Event held at Amagi Aria Hotel, Negombo, and organized by Pelwatte Dairy in partnership with the Chef’s Guild of Lanka, became a viable networking platform for the culinary experts while also giving a significant boost to their professional and skills development. The other partner of the event was the Amagi Aria Hotel.

Business

SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise becomes SriLankan Airlines’ total communication solutions provider

Published

1 day ago

2023/06/10

Thilina Walpola

SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise, the National ICT Solutions Provider, dedicated in their service to delivering best-in-class technology for the enterprise segment has signed a bilateral agreement with SriLankan Airlines with the support of Millennium IT ESP. The Managed Services Excellence event was held recently at the Jetwing Blue Hotel in Negombo.

Under this agreement, SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise will manage Service Solutions for SriLankan Airlines including Data Networking Services, Enterprise Business Internet Services, Wi-Fi Services including equipment and infrastructure, and Voice solutions.

“SLT-MOBITEL is proud to partner with SriLankan Airlines in delivering the best possible communication solutions. This partnership builds upon the strong history of collaboration between our two companies and demonstrates our shared commitment to serving Sri Lanka. By leveraging SLT-MOBITEL’s enterprise-grade services and solutions and Millennium IT ESP’s expertise, SriLankan Airlines will be able to operate more efficiently and better serve our country and its citizens,” said Janaka R. Abeysinghe, CEO of SLT.

Business

Notable buying interest in blue-chip shares; SLT share price dips

Published

1 day ago

2023/06/10

Thilina Walpola

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

CSE trading was bullish and positive yesterday since retail and institutional buyers showed some buying interest in several blue-chip stocks, mainly, JKH, Hayleys, LB Finance and banking stocks, market analysts revealed.

However, the SLT share price decreased by 8 percent or Rs 8 due to certain negative news reports on its share price. Its share price moved to Rs 85.10 from Rs 93.10.

Amid those developments both indices moved upwards. The All- Share Price Index went up by 58.41 points and S and P SL20 rose by 17.24 points. Turnover stood at Rs 2.2 billion with six crossings. Those crossings were reported in JKH, which crossed 3.35 million shares to the tune of Rs 469 million, its shares traded at Rs 140, Hayleys 4.6 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 329.3 million and its shares traded at Rs 71, LB Finance two million shares crossed for Rs 107 million; its shares traded at Rs 53.50, Hemas Holdings 466,000 shares crossed for Rs 30.6 million and its shares fetched Rs 65.80, Colombo Port Lands 800,000 shares crossed for Rs 22.4 million; its shares traded at Rs 28 and Sierra Cables two million shares crossed for Rs 21 million and its shares fetched Rs 10.50.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, JKH Rs 506.5 million (3.6 million shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 126.6 million (981,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank Rs 88.7 million (1.8 million shares traded), SLT Rs 62.4 million (726,000 shares traded), Hayleys Rs 55.8 million (645,000 shares traded), First Capital Rs 37.4 million (1.1 million shares traded) and LOLC Finance Rs 32.6 million (6.4 million shares traded). During the day 52.7 million share volumes changed hands in 11000 transactions.

The spot US dollar opened at Rs 294.50/296.00 and the bonds were steady on the previous day, dealers said. The Spot US dollar closed at Rs 294.0/295.50 on the previous day.

A bond maturing on 15.09.2027 was quoted at 23.40/60 percent unchanged from a day earlier. A bond maturing on 15.05.2026 was quoted at 24.30/60 percent steady from 24.15/25.30 percent from last close.