CDB announces listing

Citizens Development Business Finance (CDB) Ltd. yesterday announced the listing of the company in the ‘Diri Savi’ Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange.

CDB is expected to list 39,685,048 shares. Ernst & Young act as advisors to the listing and Nithya Partners as the Legal Advisors.

The CDB listing comes at a time when Sri Lanka is both the focal point of the world and upbeat with a positive business environment. This is expected to result in new investments, business expansions, new products, services and technologies being churned out at a rapid pace after the end of the three-decade long war.

Chairman of CDB Rajkumar Renganathan said that the time was opportune for such a listing. “Since the end of the war, Sri Lanka’s economic climate has been on an upward trend. With the opening up of the north and east, the signs are both healthy and positive. We have great confidence that this listing will help us achieve our future goals.”

CDB’s GM/CEO/Director Mahesh Nanayakkara said: “The key objectives of our listing are to comply with the regulatory requirements ahead of stipulated deadlines, broadening our shareholder structure, strengthening the capital raising ability to support future growth strategy and increasing transparency as a public listed institution.”

Nanayakkara added: “CDB’s post-tax profit for the first half of 2010 is expected to surpass Rs. 100 million. This reflects a growth of 670% compared to the corresponding previous year’s figure. This is a remarkable performance with our total assets base growing by 30% to reach Rs.7.5 b. Our total deposit base stood at Rs. 5,773 m while the overall NPL ratio stood at 5.84% at 31 August 2010. Arjuna Herath of Ernst & Young added, “Considering the past performance of CDB and the professionalism with which the company is managed, CDB’s shares are expected to do well in the Colombo Stock Exchange.”

CDB’s current countrywide reach stands at 32 outlets, including two Service Centres in Jaffna and Vavuniya in the Northern region. It has new services such as pawning, foreign currency encashment (authorised money dealership), money remittance and is in the process of starting Islamic financing and savings accounts. The CDB recently signed up with Hatton National Bank to provide foreign money remittance services through “Moneygram”.

The CDB’s unique business model that blends rural and urban sector in funding and lending further positions CDB as a net lender to the rural economy enabling it to harness tremendous growth potential both in rural and urban sectors.

CDB is at present positioned at the seventh place in terms of total assets among regulated financial institutions registered under the finance companies act with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.