DFCC accelerates with increase in profit
Profit at DFCC Bank and Group showed healthy increases to Rs 1713
million and Rs 2684 million for the Financial Year ending March 31, 2010
up by 26 percent and 30 percent respectively from the previous year.
|
DFCC Group Chairman J.M.S. Brito |
Consolidated profit attributable to equity holders after minority
interest for FY 2009/10 was at Rs 2580 million, an increase of 26
percent from the last financial year.
From a business perspective there is cause for optimism. The upturn
was manifest in the last quarter of the financial year and the newly
found confidence was marked by the unprecedented surge in equity prices
on the Colombo Stock Exchange,” said DFCC Group Chairman J.M.S. Brito
said in his statement to shareholders.
“At the same time, DFCC’s project finance pipeline has strengthened
considerably across the board in sectors such as manufacturing, food and
beverage, tourism and telecommunication,” he said.
The economic recovery which began in the latter part of the year with
improved business confidence did not have an immediate impact on the
growth of the Bank’s credit portfolio due to the lead time required for
project formulation and the time lag between approval and disbursement.
The total credit portfolio of the Bank stood at Rs 37,562 million,
down 10 percent from Rs 41,858 million a year ago.
DFCC Bank continued to raise its stake in environmentally friendly
projects by being at the forefront of landmark initiatives. One of them
was the first private grid connected wind power project in Sri Lanka to
be commissioned in Kalpitiya.
The project supported by DFCC Bank received a syndicated loan of Rs
1,100 million and is expected to add 28GWh annually to the national
grid. Another initiative was the first private hydropower project on the
Mahaweli system. In January, the Bank sold its entire shareholding in
Lanka Ventures PLC (LVL) to Acuity Partners, a joint venture company
equally owned by DFCC Bank and Hatton National Bank PLC.
This transaction yielded a profit of Rs 284 million and after tax
added Rs 142 million to consolidated profit. |
