Union Bank the first to announce interim dividend for 2012

The Chairman and Board of Directors of Union Bank of Colombo PLC (UBC) announced an interim dividend of 15 Cents per share, further strengthening its premise in delivering stakeholder value. UBC is the first to announce an Interim dividend for 2012.

UBC Chairman Alex Lovell stated that 2011 concluded on a positive note and 2012 will see the consolidation of these growth factors.  He further stated that Union Banks focus on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector has given the Bank a well defined competitive edge in an industry that has a landscape of 26 commercial banks.

UBC had the appropriate elements and fundamentals already ingrained to make its mark and contribute significant towards the growth of this customer segment while strengthening its relevance as a key player. This enables UBC to grow, enabling to develop the corporate stewardship role of empowering communities. Lovell stated, “Going forward, adding the necessary stimulus to our SME focus, UBC will continue to evolve as fully technology driven Bank. The Banks focus on an IT driven channel strategy will further support its reach expansion across Sri Lanka.”

UBC’s transformation from a small player to a prominent dynamic player within the banking industry by 2012 has been remarkable. Showcasing a classic turn around scenario, its pace of growth and transformation during a short period of time has been significant. UBC has continuously recorded growth in profitability and posted a net profit of Rs. 308 million in the financial year 2011 and a group pre-tax profit increase of 28% during the first quarter of 2012.

UBC topped the capital adequacy ratio and equity/assets of local licensed commercial Banks and has comfortably surpassed the regulatory requirements set by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and have adequately covered up to 2015 requirement of 5 billion . UBC is conscious of the transition to BASEL 111 and have aligned its future strategy in meeting such requirements.

UBC has a BBB/P3  rating with long term outlook stated as stable by RAM Ratings (Lanka) Ltd and was also selected to the most valuable corporate brands  in Sri Lanka  by Brand Finance Sri Lanka in 2012.  UBC has a rapidly expanding branch network of 34 branches with diversified business interests including Unit Trusts with the acquisition of National Asset Management Limited and The Finance and Guarantee Company Limited.