'Euromoney' recognize HNB as Lanka's best bank

HNB was recognized by pre-eminent international finance magazine Euromoney as the "Best Bank in Sri Lanka" at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2009 Asia Dinner in Hong Kong on July 16. Euromoney praised the bank for being able to post solid results during an economic backdrop that arguably worsened and a political situation that stabilized towards the end of the review period."

Rajendra Theagarajah, Managing Director/CEO Hatton National Bank receiving the award from Simon Brady, Managing Director, Euromoney magazine.

"We are honoured to have been judged as the Best Bank in Sri Lanka by the prestigious Euromoney magazine. This award reflects the financial stability of the Bank and the strong commitment we have towards consistently delivering exceptional value to all our stakeholders." Said Rajendra Theagarajah, MD/CEO of Hatton National Bank.

In awarding HNB as "Best Bank in Sri Lanka", Euromoney cited HNB as leading the way among the country's leading banks recording a post-tax profit of SLR 3.22 billion ($28 million), up 6.5% on the previous year, with interest income the main reason for the 23.9% increase in total income to SLR 37.17 billion.

Regarded as the benchmark awards for financial services globally, the Euromoney Awards for Excellence are now in their 18th consecutive year. This year's awards process, which began in April, attracted over 600 submissions from the world's leading banks and brokerage houses competing for the awards. Euromoney's dedicated research team and awards panel then rated all the submissions on both quantitative and qualitative factors such as KPIs, financial ratios and innovation over the 12-month period to decide the award winners.

"The global financial crisis has hit all the world's economies hard and the Asia-Pacific region has been no exception, with problems in Sri Lanka being well publicized. However the intrinsic fundamentals of the region in terms of demographics, mineral wealth and domestic demand remain strong. Most importantly of all, governments around the region have shown real commitment to economic diversification and development and Euromoney sees the long-term picture to still be very strong". "In recognition of the turmoil the country was facing, Euromoney did not give an award for best bank in Sri Lanka last year" said Euromoney magazine MD Simon Brady. "Although the economic backdrop arguably worsened and the political situation only stabilized towards the end of this year's review period, Hatton National Bank led the way of the country's leading banks in posting solid results."

The final accolade of the evening was the Euromoney Award for Outstanding Contribution to Financial Services in Asia which was presented to Dr. Joseph Yam, the out-going Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.