The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has become the highest-ranked bank and one of the five best-performing companies in Sri Lanka for the 14th consecutive year in the latest Business Today Top 40 ranking released in November 2022.
Sri Lanka’s largest private sector bank, Commercial Bank has been placed third in the overall ranking this year.
“The period assessed by Business Today for this latest ranking was challenging for businesses in general and for banks in particular,” Commercial Bank Managing Director and CEO Mr Sanath Manatunge said. “To be ranked the third best-performing corporate in Sri Lanka overall is therefore an encouraging endorsement of the Bank’s ability to respond to challenges and meet stakeholder expectations while fulfilling its obligations to the community and the planet.”
Commenting on Commercial Bank’s performance in 2020-21, Business Today said: “With an emphasis on controlling operational expenses and preventing any possible deterioration in its cost-to-income ratio and profitability, the Commercial Bank ended 2021 with solid growth by aligning its business with its strategic pillars of prudent growth and operational excellence.”
“The Bank heeded government calls to offer moratoriums to businesses. It restructured 25 per cent on the total portfolio of advances through proactive communication and close staff monitoring,” Business Today observed, noting that “The Bank successfully maintained a low non-performing loan ratio of 1.44 per cent, reflecting the high asset quality possessed by the Bank and the success of the initiatives implemented to support customers navigating through a complex operating context.”
Business Today also disclosed that among the many criteria considered for the top 40 ranking this year was the contributions of the top businesses to the exchequer through taxes. The magazine added that “the top corporates in the Business Today To 40 list demonstrate hope for the country and the people, that they have the agility to respond to the unexpected and come out, often a bit bruised but wiser, to lead the development trajectory into the coming years.” Commercial Bank paid Rs. 8.3 billion in total as taxes in respect of 2021.
Sri Lanka’s first 100% carbon neutral bank, the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and the only Sri Lankan bank to be so listed for 12 years consecutively, Commercial Bank operates a network of 268 branches and 940 automated machines in Sri Lanka. Commercial Bank is the largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector and is a leader in digital innovation in the country’s Banking sector. The Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 19 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.
