Bank of Ceylon the only State institution among ‘Top 10 Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka’

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu presenting the award ‘Top Ten Most Admired Company in Sri Lanka’ to BOC Chairman President’s Counsel Ronald C. Perera and CEO/General Manager Senarath Bandara

he Bank of Ceylon was conferred as one of the ‘Top Ten Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka’ at the 2nd convention organised by the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) to recognise Sri Lankan companies that have excelled in their respective industries and contributed to the overall economic growth of the country. 

Having completed 80 years of unwavering service to the nation, Bank of Ceylon is said to be the highest profit earning single business entity in the country as at today. It is also one of the significant contributors towards economic growth of the country and takes greater responsibility in every possible way to assist Government initiatives towards social and economic development.   

The award was presented at a ceremony held recently attended by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Chief Guest and Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu as the Guest of Honour amidst Sri Lanka’s most successful listed and non-listed companies which have been nominated for this prestigious award. 

The award as one of the ‘Top Ten Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka’ was presented to Bank of Ceylon Chairman President’s Counsel Ronald C. Perera by the Prime Minister and Indian High Commissioner. The bank’s Chairman was accompanied by CEO/General Manager Senarath Bandara to receive this award. 

“As a State bank, recognition as being among the ‘Top Ten Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka’ is the result of a collective effort made by all stakeholders who are linked with the bank, which necessarily includes the Government of Sri Lanka and all Sri Lankans as one. We have always looked at sustainable growth as a win-win situation for all, thus the nature of our operation strives not only for business excellence but value creation for everyone who are involved. As ‘Bankers to the Nation,’ we admit that our scope is very large and diverse compared to many organisations, but we have envisioned that all our products and service lines will streamlined focusing on long-term financial soundness encompassing quality of management, good governance, human resources, innovation and ability to attract and build relationships over time. We humbly accept this award as token of appreciation for being so and wish to thank every stakeholder including ICCSL and CIMA institution for encouraging good corporate citizenship among organisations,” stated Perera. 

Commenting on the achievement, Bandara said: “Our score card has always exhibited unprecedented records, but we believe it is the underlying values and believes we have that built the mechanism for our work-process to flow in order to create value for all stakeholders in the long-term. Bank of Ceylon (BOC) is currently holds the highest asset base, which is Rs. 2.2 trillion, owned by a single Sri Lankan business entity. It also has the highest valued loans and advances portfolio which is Rs. 1.5 trillion and the highest deposit base Rs. 1.8 trillion held by a business entity in the country. The bank’s profit stood above every other single business organisation in the country an impressive Rs. 31.9 billion for the year 2018. It was able to add value to its key stakeholder the Government of Sri Lanka as a direct contribution of Rs. 24 billion in terms of dividends and taxes. This is apart from assisting the Government of Sri Lanka with its progressive agenda towards a socially equitable and an economically developed country. The bank has a broader perspective in terms of assisting to develop entrepreneurship, employment, assisting to sustain social and economic growth and preserving the environment whilst maintaining corporate ethics. The bank’s Good Governance Policy ensures that all operations and dealings are carried out in a transparent manner. We have been recognised in numerous events for our commitment towards these values. This accolade too is very encouraging and we assure the bank will move forward committed to deliver value and being an exceptional corporate citizen.”

All organisations were shortlisted through a process that evaluated their performance that has gone beyond their profit making objective to actually create value for the Government, other shareholders, customers, employees and a wider community in general. In such essence it was required to give evidence for the organisation’s reputational strength, its ability to inspire other organisations and entrepreneurs and maintain sustainable growth. The evaluation panel has also been keen on the organisation’s commitment towards good governance in areas of top management commitment to leadership succession, visionary thinking on sustainability, commitment to fulfil stakeholder interests and commitment to treat every stakeholder fairly and justifiably. 

BOC had brought digital transformation to the Sri Lankan banking landscape and empowered every citizen across the country with the ability to access banking throughout the day in the most secured, convenient and the cost effective manner for the customer. It owns an inter-connected branch network of 638, with international branches in London, Male, Hulu Male, Chennai and Seychelles and an ATM/CDM/CRM network with over 1,100 machines.

BOC has been named as the ‘No. 1 Banking Brand’ in the country continuously for the last 11 years by Brand Finance Lanka, to be among the ‘Top 1000’ banks in the world with the country rank No. 1 by ‘The Banker’ UK magazine and was named as the ‘Strongest Bank’ in Sri Lanka for 2018 based on the strength of its balance sheet by the ‘Asian Banker’ magazine. 

As for 2018, Bank of Ceylon was recognised among ‘Top 10 Corporate Citizens in Country’ at the Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards 2018 by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. These impressive accolades and figures thereby speak of trust and stability that the bank has built over years in serving the nation beyond being just a financial partner in Sri Lankan lives.