The Commercial Bank of Ceylon Group, comprising of the bank, its subsidiaries and an associate, in a filing of its annual financial statements with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has reported an exceptionally strong financial performance in 2024.
The Group recognised its full net loss of Rs 45.11 bn., from the restructuring of SLISBs in the final quarter of the year, resulting in gross income for the 12 months ending December 31, 2024 reducing by 19.50% to Rs 274.98 bn. However, a net impairment reversal of Rs 62.30 bn., primarily due to provision reversals in respect of SLISBs,significantly cushioned the overall impact. Lower interest rates brought interest income down by 7.54% to Rs 275.22 bn., further impacting the Group’s topline, the Group said.
Timely repricing of deposits and the strong CASA base of the Bank, resulted in total interest expenses reducing by 25.63% to Rs 157.08 bn., enabling the Group to record a growth of 36.71% in net interest income to Rs 118.13 bn. Net fee and commission income grew by 5.62% to Rs 23.65 bn.
Notably, a decrease in net other operating income of Rs 12.19 bn., or 58.93%, was largely offset by a reduction in losses from trading of Rs 10.28 bn. or 82.37%.
The Group’s net operating income surged by 103.61% to Rs 169.35 bn. for the year under review, with Q4 alone contributing Rs 73.65 bn., an increase of 227.25%. With operating expenses for the full year growing by a moderate rate of 17.04% to Rs 51.84 bn., the Group reported an operating profit before taxes on financial services of Rs 117.52 bn., an increase of 202.21% over the previous year.
Taxes on financial services increased by 297.20% to Rs 19.71 bn., resulting in profit before income tax of Rs 97.81 bn., for the 12 months, an improvement of 188.29% over the previous year. The income tax charge for the year increased by 250.22% to Rs 42.12 bn., leading to a net profit after tax of Rs 55.69 bn. for 2024, reflectinga growth of 154.28%.
Taken separately, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC reported a profit before tax of Rs 95.53 bn., and a profit after tax of Rs 54.07 bn. for the year reviewed, recording growths of 199.67% and 164.28%. Basic earnings per share rose to Rs 37.74, up from Rs 14.89 for 2023.
In the final quarter of the year the loan book grew by a Rs 108.69 bn. at a monthly average of Rs 36.23 bn. This drove the gross loans and advances to Rs 1.53 tn., an improvement of 17.73%. Deposit growth also accelerated, increasing by Rs 79.56 bn. in Q4 alone at a monthly average of Rs 26.52 bn., bringing the total deposits to Rs 2.31 tn., with a YOY increase of 7.36%. As a result, total assets of the Group increased by Rs 220.39 bn.over the 12 months to Rs 2.876 Tn. as at December 31, 2024, reflecting a healthy growth of 8.30%.
