COLOMBO(Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s biggest private lender Commercial Bank of Ceylon on Monday said it expects its second-quarter profits to rise 30-35 percent year-on-year amid lower taxes and better economic growth in the post-war environment.
The bank’s full-year profits should grow 20 percent year-on-year, Chairman Mahendra Amarasuriya said, boosted additionally by expansion including a new Islamic banking unit.
Commercial Bank, Sri Lanka’s fifth-largest listed firm by market capitalisation, is also mulling a rights issue to boost capital to pay for a 2 billion Sri Lanka rupees ($18.2 million) expansion plan this year.
http://www.ft.lk/2011/05/24/commercial-bank-forecasts-30-35-gain-in-q2-profits/