The Group recorded a PBT of 3,001 million rupees and PAT of 2,062 million rupees for the quarter that ended March 31, 2023, compared to 326 million rupees and 527 million rupees, respectively, in 2022. The Bank’s Return on Equity increased to 10.88 percent during the quarter ended March 31, 2023 from 5.04 percent recorded for the year ended December 31, 2022. The Return on Assets (ROA) before tax for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 is 1.63 percent compared to 0.46 percent for the year ended December 31, 2022. The Net Interest Income (NII) increased by 75 percent over Q1 of 2022 to reach 8.34 billion rupees by the quarter end of March 2023. The tight liquidity conditions in the domestic money market have resulted in rising market interest rates. As a result, the Bank’s deposit and lending products experienced a significant increase in interest rates during the period under review. While the higher interest rates may have continued to depress the lending portfolio, it led to an overall improvement in Net Interest income (NII). Strategically, the Bank increased the fixed-income investment portfolio, contributing significantly to increased interest income. In line with the increase in the AWPLR over the past 12 months, the interest margin increased from 3.80 percent in March 2022 to 5.93 percent by March 2023.
This story is from the June 2023 edition of Business Today Sri Lanka.
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This story is from the June 2023 edition of Business Today Sri Lanka.
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