The Commercial Bank of Ceylon’s debenture issue, the largest ever by a private bank in Sri Lanka, closed after being oversubscribed on its opening day (July 2), raising Rs. 20 billion. This milestone underscores investor confidence in the institution.
Announcing the oversubscription, the bank revealed it received applications for more than three times the Rs. 10 billion initial issue amount, leading to the exercise of all options and raising Rs. 20 billion.
Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Sanath Manatunge commented, “This is an extremely encouraging vote of confidence from institutional and individual investors. This significant achievement stands as a testament to their unwavering faith in our meticulously crafted strategic roadmap, underpinned by principles of robust governance and sustained financial performance, as the country’s leading private sector financial services provider.”
The bank initially offered 100 million Basel III Compliant – Tier 2 Listed Rated Unsecured Subordinated Redeemable Debentures with a Non-Viability Conversion feature at Rs. 100 each, aiming to raise Rs. 10 billion. In the event of oversubscription, the bank had the discretion to issue up to a further 100 million debentures.
The issue will strengthen the bank’s Tier II capital base, support the expansion of its lending portfolio, and address maturity mismatches in its assets and liabilities portfolio.
For the three months ending March 31, 2024, the Commercial Bank Group reported gross income of Rs. 80.208 billion, total operating income of Rs. 34.947 billion, profit before tax of Rs. 16.738 billion, and profit after tax of Rs. 10.808 billion. The bank’s total assets reached Rs. 2.616 trillion, with loans and advances totaling Rs. 1.316 trillion and total deposits exceeding Rs. 2.141 trillion.