Commercial Bank ranked among World’s Top 1000 Banks for 6th successive year

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has become the only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the Top 1000 Banks of the World for the sixth year running, setting yet another benchmark for consistency.

This prestigious ranking is published annually by ‘The Banker’ magazine of the UK, and the 2016 list is based on the Bank’s key performance indicators for FY 2015. 

The Top 1000 Banks of the World are ranked on the basis of Tier I capital, assets, capital assets ratio, pre-tax profits, return on capital, return on assets, BIS (Basel) Capital ratio, NPL to total loans, loans to assets ratio, risk weighted assets (RWA) to total assets (TA) ratio and cost income ratio.

“In banking, size does matter, but the stringent evaluation for this ranking looks at many other mission-critical key performance indicators as well,” Commercial Bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer  Jegan Durairatnam said. “In that context, just being among the Top 1000 is a significant achievement for a Sri Lankan bank, and staying there for six years consecutively is a great demonstration of consistency for which the entire team of Commercial Bank must be given credit.” He also added that the Bank wishes to thank all its stakeholders for their support in achieving this feat.

Commercial Bank ended FY 2015, the period assessed for the 2016 ranking, with assets of Rs 880 billion, profit before tax of Rs 17.1billion, a loan book of Rs 508.1 billion, deposits of Rs 624.1 billion, and Tier I Capital Adequacy Ratio of 11.6%.

The Top 1000 World Banks ranking is compiled from a database of over 5,000 of the world’s biggest banks and is acknowledged by the global financial community as the definitive guide to bank rankings and analysis. Begun in 1970, the ranking is widely used all year round by senior bankers, corporate treasurers, corporate financiers, the professional services community and many others in their day to day decisions relating to banking.

Commenting on its latest ranking, The Banker magazine said: “The 2016 Top 1000 results are indicative of the challenging environment banks found themselves operating in during 2015. Even the Chinese banking industry’s meteoric growth shows signs of slowing down for the first time in a decade. For the last few years, China’s banks have dominated the ranking based on Tier 1 capital. This year Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) remains number 1 and China Construction Bank number 2, with 4 out of the top 5 places held by Chinese banks.”

The Banker is published by Financial Times Business, which is the specialist publishing and conferences arm of the FT Group.

Commercial Bank operates a network of 251 branches and 630 ATMs in Sri Lanka, the largest electronic cash dispensing facility owned by a single bank in the country. Commercial Bank has won multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s Best Bank, Best Trade Bank, Strongest Bank, Most Respected Bank from a number of local and international institutions and publications over several years. The Bank has also been adjudged one of Sri Lanka’s 10 best corporate citizens by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for several years.

Commercial Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 18 outlets and Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon. The Bank will open a fully-fledged Tier I Bank in the Republic of Maldives in 2016. The Bank also recently received a license to operate a fully owned Money Transfer Operation in Italy.