Sri Lanka’s leading private sector bank HNB PLC, was ranked among the top 10 Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka for the fourth consecutive year.
In a year that challenged even the strongest organisations, HNB was recognised, not just for its financial performance but also for the value created for shareholders, customers, employees, and the wider community. The Bank has proven its mettle with consistency, authority and sustainable growth, creating excellence in business performance which have inspired other organisations and entrepreneurs.
“We are delighted to be among Sri Lanka’s most admired companies as the respect of our peers and the general public is one of the strongest validations of our pioneering approach to banking. Over the past year, digital transformation was integral for business continuity and offered citizens a safe and convenient mode of completing transactions. The technologies that we have deployed will serve as the bedrock for a new decade of technologically empowered growth, adding greater value to our customers and stakeholders. We pledge to continue fueling this technological transformation to revive the national economy actively,” HNB Managing Director / CEO, Jonathan Alles said.
A collaborative effort by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL), the Most Admired Companies are selected under stringent evaluation based on globally accepted criteria. The initial round consisted of a financial evaluation by a team of CIMA members, after which the Top 20 organisations were chosen from a group of nearly 50.
For the second round, companies had to present to a panel of judges, each scoring independently on multiple attributes such as the ability to attract and retain talent, quality of products and services, innovativeness, effectiveness in doing business globally, role in community, environmental, social and corporate governance principles, as well as a track record of integrity and work against corruption in all its forms. An interactive session followed the presentation with the management team and judges to assess how the companies adopted the business practices.
Notably, a survey link was shared with the general public earlier this year to nominate the organisations they felt were the most admired in Sri Lanka. The nominees were invited for the competition, while the adverts ensured other organisations applied as well.
The recognition is the most recent in a string of accolades bestowed on HNB regarding its transformational approach to banking. Earlier this year, HNB achieved an important milestone in its transformation journey when it was ranked once again among the Top 1,000 World Banks by the prestigious UK-based The Banker Magazine for the fifth time in a row. The bank was also recognised as the ‘Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka’ by the Asian Banker Magazine on eleven occasions and is ranked among the Top 3 Companies in Sri Lanka by Business Today Magazine.
With 254 customer centres across the country, HNB is one of Sri Lanka’s largest, most technologically innovative banks, having won local and global recognition for its efforts to drive forward a new paradigm in digital banking. HNB has a national rating of AA- (lka) by Fitch Ratings (Lanka) Ltd.