Cargills Bank gears to expand presence in rural areas

Cargills Bank Limited has reported improved performance for the three months ended March 31, 2017. 
The bank recorded a profit before tax of Rs. 67 million for the first quarter 2017 compared to the corresponding period in 2016 wherein a Rs.89 million loss before tax was recorded. 
Profit after tax for the first quarter was Rs.42 million. The overall trend is encouraging and the bank is confident of consistently improving its performance in the coming quarters.
The quarterly profitability was mainly led by the significant increase in net interest income arising from key changes in the bank’s business and operational strategies. 
Further, the fulfillment of the mandatory tier 1 capital requirement in the previous year enabled the Bank to achieve profitability within a shorter period of time. The gradual deployment of funds in higher interest bearing assets in the first three months has improved the core income of the bank. 
The bank strives to continuously improve its loan and advances portfolio and net interest income in the remaining period of 2017.
With the aim of accelerating the growth the bank focused on retail centric banking activities and more funds were committed in the retail/SME segments with the launch of several new products and initiatives such as loans against property (LAP), housing loans, loans for professionals and educational loans. 
The bank seeks to continuously extend its presence in the rural areas and expects to increase the customer base in the coming nine months period.
The non-funded income (net fee and commission income) recorded a growth of Rs. 20Mn for which income from trade and remittance services contributed with notable contributions.
Net gains from trading shows an increase of Rs. 3.2 million with foreign exchange gains being the main contributor. Other income of the bank increased by Rs.13 million due to revaluation gains recorded with respect to foreign currency investments.
The bank’s operating expenses has increased by Rs. 42 million due to expansion in its operational activities. The Bank’s cost to income ratio has decreased to 75.80 percent from 154 percent which reflects the outcome of improved performance. The NPA ratio declined to 0.70 percent from the previous year’s NPA ratio of 0.94 percent .The bank continuously focuses in improving and maintaining the asset quality.
The bank recorded a total asset growth of Rs.742 million for the period and the total asset base was Rs.22 billion while LAP stood at Rs.15 billion. Customer deposits grew by 7.28 percent for the period under review to reach Rs.10 billion by 31 March 2017. 
There has also been a satisfactory increase in the bank’s customer base. As at March 2017 the bank had 15 branches in operation of which 6 are ‘in-store’ branches. The bank plans rolling out six more ‘in-store’ branches this financial year to enhance its growth momentum.