Seylan records Rs. 3bn PAT

In the backdrop of an extremely challenging environment, Seylan Bank recorded a Profit After Tax (PAT) of LKR 3Bn for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Income Statement

Interest Income of the Bank stood at LKR 52.3Bn while interest expenses stood at LKR 32.8Bn reflecting a Net Interest Income (NII) of LKR 19.5Bn with an annual growth of 4.6% in the year under review. The main contributor for NII was the loans and advances portfolio that generated interest income of LKR 41.7Bn during the year whilst the Treasury operations generated LKR 8.5Bn in interest income. Interest expenses on deposits stood at LKR 27.8Bn recording a decline from LKR 30.7Bn from the previous year. Deposits that were re-priced during the year helped the Bank to reduce its funding cost.

Net Interest Margin (NIM) of the Bank declined to 3.95% against 4.20% reported in FY2019, as the loan book repriced at a faster rate than the deposits. This also offset the positive impact from the growth in low cost deposits.

Net Fee & Commission Income reduced to LKR 3.7Bn from LKR 4.2Bn, recording a YoY contraction of 11.89%. The reduction was mainly due to the lower volume of foreign trade related activities and banking operations by businesses retailers etc.

The Total Operating Income growth of 4.36% predominantly aided by treasury trading activities which improved from a loss of LKR 497Mn in 2019 to a gain of LKR 348Mn in FY 2020. Further, net gains reported from de-recognition of financial assets increased to LKR 782Mn from LKR 320Mn from FY2019 sustained the operating income growth and other operating income reduced by LKR 600Mn mainly due to contraction of trade-related activities during the year.

Bank recorded an impairment charge of LKR 6.9Bn against LKR 3.9Bn reported in 2019 with a growth of 80%. Impairment charges for Stage III advances increased from LKR 3.9Bn to LKR 5.7Bn during the year due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on businesses. Further, businesses that were identified as risk elevated industries too contributed to the increase in impairment. Impairment on Stage I & II also grew from LKR 103Mn to LKR 628Mn and reversal of LKR 246Mn to charge of LKR 359Mn respectively.

Simultaneously, Impairment on other financial instruments and assets also went up by LKR 290Mn, mainly due to downgrading of the credit rating attributed to foreign currency bond holdings. The overall impairment improved the provision cover ratio to 43.68% as of 31 December 2020.

(Seylan Bank)