Commercial Bank in World’s Top 1000 Banks for record 8th consecutive year

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been ranked among the Top 1000 Banks of the World in 2018, and remains the only bank in the country to be on this prestigious ranking for eight consecutive years.  

The Top 1000 Banks of the World are ranked by the UK’s ‘The Banker’ magazine on the basis of Tier I capital, assets, capital assets ratio, pre-tax profits, return on capital, return on assets, BIS (Basel) Capital ratio, NPL to total loans, loans to assets ratio, risk weighted assets (RWA) to total assets (TA) ratio and cost income ratio.

Commenting on Commercial Bank’s longstanding presence in the ranking, the bank’s Managing Director/CEO Jegan Durairatnam said: “A ranking in the Top 1,000 could be approximated to being among the top 6% of the banks of the world, which is extremely respectable. Holding one’s position within that elite group for eight years means that we are maintaining growth rates that are keeping pace with or are exceeding those of other leading international banks, despite the challenges we face.”

The top four positions in the 2018 global ranking are held by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China. 

For the financial year 2017, Commercial Bank reported total assets of Rs. 1.143 trillion, gross income of Rs .115.6 billion, net profit of Rs. 16.5 billion, a deposits base of Rs. 850.1 billion and total loans and receivables of Rs. 754.7 billion.

In terms of Capital Adequacy Ratios, the bank’s Total Tier 1 capital ratio (with capital buffers) at 12.11% as at 31 December 2017 was well above the 7.75% required under Basel III. The Total Capital Ratio of 15.75% at the end of 2017 was comfortably above the Basel III requirement of 11.75%.

Sri Lanka’s largest and most awarded private bank, the Commercial Bank of Ceylon plays a pivotal role in the economy of the country, especially in terms of empowering small and medium industries. In the past year it paid Rs. 11.5 billion in taxes to the Government and lent Rs. 131.8 billion to SMEs. The bank also channelled 10.56% of the country’s imports and 18.58% of its exports in 2017, and was the Sri Lankan bank with the largest footprint in Asia.