July 30, 2012 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Union Bank group has report net profits of 27.4 million rupees for the June 2012 quarter, down 61.5 percent from a year earlier, amid rising interest rates and expenses.
The bank did not separately report earnings per share at group level in quarterly accounts filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange. For the six months to June 2012 profits fell 22.9 percent to 102.3 million rupees.
Fee income rose 49.2 percent to 141 million rupees in the June quarter with forex income rising 144 percent to 45.3 million rupees.
Interest income rose 62.1 percent to 813 million rupees and interest expenses rose at a faster 114.7 percent allowing net interest income to increase at a slower 9.2 percent to 273 million rupees.
But non-interest operating expense rose 52 percent to 321 million rupees.
Performing loans rose 12.4 percent to 18.4 billion rupees and non-performing loans rose 29.8 percent to 3.0 billion rupees.
At bank level the firm said the gross non-performing loan ratio rose to 6.83 percent by June 2012 from 6.05 percent a year earlier.
In the June quarter there was a 10.2 million rupee write back on loan loss provisions against 3.8 million a year earlier. At bank level however there was a small 1.2 million rupee provision.
Sri Lanka is in the last stages of a balance of payments crisis where interest rates rise steeply and bad loans go up.
Deposits also grew 12.5 percent to 22.0 billion rupees.
Group gross assets rose 12.5 percent to 24.2 billion rupees and net assets grew 1.3 percent to 5.2 billion rupees.
At stand alone bank level, Union Bank reported capital adequacy at 19.9 percent, down from 32.7 percent a year earlier, but still higher than the regulatory minimum.
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