State-run Bank of Ceylon (BoC), the largest lender in Sri Lanka has recorded a net profit of 13.1 billion rupees for the December quarter, up 25.3 percent a year ago mainly supported by the tax reversals.
Total income for the quarter grew 80 percent to 146.3 billion rupees.The bank’s bonds are listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange.
Interest income in the quarter grew by 84.9 percent to 134.4 billion rupees and interest expenses grew at a faster 173.6 percent to 115.1 billion rupees, squeezing net interest income, which fell 36.9 percent to 19.2 billion rupees.
“The upsurge in deposit rates increased the cost of funding, YoY interest expense hiked by 121 percent and as considerable portion of FDs are reprised by now, during the latter part of this year interest expense moved up by nearly threefold than previous year,” the bank said in an interim review.
