The Country’s No.1 Banking Brand, the No.1 Bank, Bank of Ceylon has been yet again reaffirmed its place among the “Top 1000” Banks in the World with the country rank as No.1, denoted by “the Banker” U.K. Magazine.
The Bank of Ceylon becomes the only Sri Lankan bank to top the country rank continuously. This year BOC has made a significant leap in the TOP 1000 list from 909 previous year to 847 this year. Throughout the past nine years BOC continued to hold the No.1 country rank position above all other Sri Lankan banks which have appeared in the list. Being the only bank to continuously top the list among Sri Lankan banks, BOC without any doubt can boast of its financial and operational strength which is considered to have accounted for this achievement.
With the pledge to commit itself as “Banker’s to the Nation” since its inception the BOC brand has been evolving with the needs and lifestyle of the Sri Lankan community to provide the financial assistance they require. The Bank of Ceylon has recorded an Income growth of 8% to Rs. 239.1 billion in2019, supported by a healthy increase in both Net Interest Income (NII) and Fee and Commission income.
The Bank proactive measures on impairment provision for Expected Credit Loss (ECL) together with key issues in the industries and liquidity pressures resulted in an increase in impairment provision by 27% to Rs.18.3 billion on YOY basis. The Bank has able to manage cost-to-income ratio at 37% and which is significantly lower than peers. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the Bank’s strategic focus on driving process efficiencies through automation and increased productivity.
Despite of the challenging business conditions during the year the Bank has recorded pre-tax profit of Rs. 29.7 billion. This is 11% decrease in YoY. Profit-after-tax however, recorded an increase of 10% to Rs. 23.1 billion due to the reduction in income tax charge for the year. The Bank reported Return on Average Assets (RoAA) of 1.3% and Return on Average Equity (ROAE) of 16.8%.
Commenting on the achievement the Bank’s Chairman Kanchana Ratwatte added “The strength of BOC has always been rooted with it being together with our community. Emerging with the country rank No.1 and a leap of 62 places in the “Top 1000” bank list, BOC has been able to build itself through sheer commitment and trust shown towards all stakeholders through its responsible business practices. As a bank with an inherent responsibility towards socio-economic enhancement of the country, we have always been there with our fellow citizens in both good and bad times the country has gone through.”
“The Banker” magazine UK, is one of the premier banking and finance magazines in the world and has been so since its inception in 1926. The Benchmark top 1000 bank list has been compiled by the “The Banker” since 1970.
Going beyond mere multichannel strategies to approach the customer and to deliver the service they expect, the bank has developed more agile operating models that are customer-centric and provide profound solutions for all our customers coming from all walks of life. Whilst enriching its inter-connected branch network with digital technology that enables the banking operations to be available through 24 hours day, customers are empowered to carry out regular banking transactions through ATM/CDM and CRMs enabling customers to transact through any branch seamlessly.
In its digital frontier, BOC has now reached the customer in all possible avenues available through technology to empower the customer, to do banking from anywhere at any time. BOC’s Online-banking platform and mobile banking platforms empower the customer through a technology that is reliable, convenient, secured and user friendly. Further customers can manage their finances better and engage more efficiently with the banking transactions.
“Continuing our quest to strive for exceptional performance in all areas of banking, we keep continuing to reach special milestones in the journey, with a steadfast growth.
The Bank moved towards modern state-of-the-art digital banking, exhibiting exceptional financial performance along its way. Keeping our momentum of growth in every possible way we have moved up the list and yet again received confirmation as the country’s No.1 within the Top 1000 Bank ranking.” stated the Acting General Manager Sugath Gunasekara.
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