The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has once again been included among the 10 ‘Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka’ in the annual list compiled by the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL) in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
This is the fourth consecutive year that Sri Lanka’s biggest private sector bank has been ranked among the top 10 companies in this list, which was launched in 2018.
Commenting on this prestigious accolade, Commercial Bank Managing Director Mr S. Renganathan said: “The past year has been adverse for companies in general, but we believe it is how we have responded to the challenges of the pandemic and its impacts on our customers, that has earned us the admiration of the people. Our performance was achieved with an extremely balanced approach that considered the interests of all stakeholder groups, with an emphasis on those most vulnerable.”
Open to both listed and unlisted companies, the ICCSL-CIMA Most Admired Company Awards recognise entities that are a cut above the rest in terms of not just their financial performance but also the value they create for their shareholders, customers, employees, and the wider community in general. Commercial Bank was recognised as a company that inspires other organisations and entrepreneurs by proving its mettle with consistency, authority and sustainable growth, creating excellent business performance.
Ranked Sri Lanka’s Strongest Bank Brand in 2021 by Brand Finance, Commercial Bank of Ceylon ended 2020 with total assets of Rs 1.763 trillion, gross income of Rs 151.966 billion, net profit of Rs 16.373 billion, a deposits base of Rs 1.287 trillion and a loan book of Rs 961.859 billion. In the second quarter of 2021, the Bank had the distinction of becoming the first private bank in the country to have three key balance sheet indicators exceeding Rs 1 trillion, with total assets of Rs 1.935 trillion, total deposits of Rs 1.4 trillion and a loan book of Rs 1.034 trillion as at 30th June 2020.
One of the highlights of the Bank’s performance in 2020 was the confirmation by the Ministry of Finance that it was the biggest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector among all state-owned, private and specialised banks in the country, accounting for more than a fifth of all loans in terms of value and number. Commercial Bank lent Rs 163.98 billion or 21.57% of the Rs 759.7 billion in loans provided to SMEs by 19 institutions, while the 58,584 loans provided by the Bank represented 23.82% of the total of 245,883 loans granted in the pandemic-impacted year.
Commercial Bank was also the leader in providing financial relief, especially to SMEs, under the Government stimulus package during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.
Another noteworthy recent milestone was the Bank’s achievement of carbon-neutral status, becoming the first Bank in Sri Lanka to have completely balance its environmental footprint.
The first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and the only Sri Lankan bank to be so listed for 11 years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 268 branches and 931 automated machines in Sri Lanka. The Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.