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‘DFCC Bank stands firm amidst challenges’

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In the backdrop of an extremely challenging environment supporting the efforts by the Government to uplift and stabilize the economy,

continued its committed service to customers across the country providing essential banking services without interruption during these challenging times. DFCC Bank concluded the quarter ended 31March 2021 with sound performance and growth.

DFCC Bank really swung into full gear as a full-service Commercial Bank marking 65 years of being a pioneer in Sri Lanka’s banking sector. The Bank has made great strides recently to capture market share by demonstrating agility to embrace its goal of becoming a customer centric digitally enabled bank. The Bank introduced several concessionary schemes to its clientele in accordance with the Directions/ Guidelines of Central Bank of Sri Lanka extending financial and advisory support to all segments of customers.

The following commentary relates to the unaudited Financial Statements for the quarter ended 31 March 2021, presented in accordance with Sri Lanka Accounting Standard 34 (LKAS 34) on “Interim Financial Statements”.

 

Financial Performance Profitability

The DFCC Group comprises of DFCC Bank PLC (DFCC), and its subsidiaries – Lanka Industrial Estates Limited (LINDEL), DFCC Consulting (Pvt) Limited (DCPL) and Synapsys Limited (SL), the joint venture company – Acuity Partners (Pvt) Limited (APL) and associate company – National Asset Management Limited (NAMAL).

DFCC Bank PLC, the largest entity within the Group, reported a profit before tax (PBT) of LKR 1,915Mn and a profit after tax (PAT) of LKR 1,479 Mn for the quarter ended 31 March 2021. This compares with a PBT of LKR 1,295 Mn and a PAT of LKR 925 Mn in the comparative period.

The Group recorded a PBT of LKR 2,036 Mn and PAT of LKR 1,583 Mn for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 as compared to LKR 1,408 Mn and LKR 1,014 Mn respectively in the comparative period of year 2020. All the member entities of the Group made positive contributions to this performance.

The basic earnings per ordinary share (EPS) of the Bank improved to LKR 4.80 for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 from LKR 3.04 for the comparative period in year 2020 recording an increase of 58%. The Bank’s Return on Equity (ROE) improved to 6% during the quarter ended 31 March 2021 from 4.93% recorded for the year ended 31 December 2020. The Bank’s Return on Assets (ROA) before tax also improved to 0.91% during the quarter ended 31 March 2021 compared to 0.78% recorded for the year ended 31 December 2020.

 

Net Interest Income

The Bank recorded a LKR 2,679 Mn in net interest income (NII) which is a 10% decline year on year primarily due to the drop in AWPLR more than 370 bps over the past 12 months and due to the business implications that arose with the pandemic situation. In line with this trend and due to the time taken to re price the existing deposits to reflect market trends the interest margin also has slightly decreased from 2.53% in December 2020 to 2.35% in March 2021. (DFCC Bank)



Business

Share investors worried over Wealth and Heritage tax

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By Hiran H Senewiratne

CSE trading kicked off on a positive note yesterday but the momentum could not be sustained for long owing to investor worries that the government is planning domestic debt restructuring involving the imposition of a wealth and heritage tax on citizens, market sources said.

Amid those developments both indices moved downwards. The All -Share Price Index went down by 131 points and S and P SL-20 declined by 46.8 points. Turnover stood at Rs 3.4 billion with four crossings. Those crossings were reported in Agalawattte Plantations, which crossed 45.3 million shares to the tune of Rs 1.5 billion, its shares traded at Rs 35, CTC 420,000 shares crossed for Rs 269 million and its shares traded at Rs 640, Cargills 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 24.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 245 and Hayleys 300,000 shares crossed for Rs 24 million; its shares traded at Rs 80.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, SLT Rs 234 million (two million shares traded), Hayleys RS 121 million (1.5 million shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 106 million (115,000 shares traded), Softlogic Capital Rs 69 million (5.6 million shares traded), CTC Rs 65.3 million (101,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank RS 54.7 million (one million shares traded) and Commercial Bank RS 52.5 million (801,000 shares traded).During the day 164 million share volumes changed hands in 20000 transactions.

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Brandix ‘RightToRead’ initiative gains momentum enriching Sri Lanka students and transforming learning

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Inspired by the challenge to provide Sri Lankan children with better access to learning materials and the transformative power to read and comprehend English, Brandix launched the ‘RightToRead’ project in 2018 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

Accordingly, Brandix introduced the ‘ReadToMe’ English learning tool, created by English Helper – India, to improve reading and comprehension skills of Sri Lankan students. Last Monday, Julie Chung, the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, visited Susamayawardhana Vidyalaya in Borella, to observe progress of the project and experience how children and educators in Sri Lanka engage with educational technology.

Brandix Lanka Limited, Director, Ajit Johnpillai, said: “Education is the most powerful tool to enrich communities and futures, and Brandix is committed to build a strong foundation for transformational learning for students across Sri Lanka. The progress we have made with RiteToRead over the past two years is promising, and the potential for change in the education sector harnessing such digital technologies is immeasurable. Brandix will continue its commitment to deliver Inspired Solutions for the people of Sri Lanka.”

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Dialog TV Boosts Resilience and Capacity with Norsat Satellite Earth Station

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Hytera, a leading global provider of professional communications technologies and solutions, is proud to announce the successful deployment of a new backup satellite station for Dialog TV, Sri Lanka’s No.1 satellite Pay TV service provider. The project was fulfilled in 2022 by Hytera and its subsidiary specialized in Satellite Communications (SatCom), Norsat International Inc. The new station enhances the resilience and capacity of Dialog TV’s existing system and ensures continuity of service in the event of damage due to natural disasters.
Dialog TV provides coverage over the entirety of Sri Lanka through the Intelsat 38 Ku-band satellite. As the business expanded, it opted for a backup solution to support its existing satellite station and to strengthen the network’s disaster tolerance.
Hytera and Norsat provided an end-to-end satellite earth station solution that includes the installation, integration, and setup of satellite antennas, a transmission and receiving system, a new network management system (NMS), and a carrier monitoring system (CMS). The NMS makes routine work easier and simpler for on-duty staff, as equipment status, parameter monitoring and configuration, and remote control of the devices can be viewed and accomplished via a single interface. The CMS monitors the carrier spectrum status of satellite signals in real-time and ensures stable signal transmission and receiving.
“We are excited to have been able to work with Dialog TV on this important project,” said Kevin Sun, Sales Director for Hytera South Asia, “Our ability to seamlessly integrate our new equipment and software with Dialog TV’s existing systems has helped to ensure a stable and reliable service for their millions of customers across Sri Lanka.”

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