Sampath wins Banker of the Year award

by Mohammed NAALIR

The Sampath Bank won the coveted Banker of the year 2010 award recently. This was the second consecutive win for the bank.

"This is a most prestigious award in the international banking world," said Executive Director/Chief Executrive Officer, Sampath bank, harris Premaratne.

Premaratne said, awards were won by 149 banks in 149 countries virtually covering the world are granted to the successful banks under the categories best bank in the world and the best bank in the region in recognition of growth and achievements during the year.

Sampath Bank ranked the third largest bank in the private sector, commenced operations 23 years ago as a Sri Lankan Bank that pioneered state-of-the-art technology through ATMs, fully automated network banking and credit cards.

Premaratne noted that Sampath Bank recorded a positive credit growth of 3 per cent during the last year while recording a deposit growth of 17.5 per cent and asset growth of 12.5 per cent.

The bank recorded a post tax profit growth of 51.4 per cent in 2009. It was considered as the highest among local banks.

The bank posted a pre-tax profit of Rs. 2,992.5 million for the first three quarters of this year, recorded an increase of Rs. 422.8 million, an increase of 16.5 per cent from 2009. The bank showed a post-tax profit Rs. 2,009.2 million in 2010, indicating a growth of 51.0 per cent from 2009.