Seylan Bank sees solid 2025 with quarterly profit up 9.4%

Chairman Justice Buwaneka Aluwihare, PC

Director/CEO Ramesh Jayasekara

Seylan Bank PLC reported higher top and bottom-lines in the quarter ended in December 2025, defying the absence of one-off gains from provision reversals, as the other provisions for loans fell sharply, despite a solid loan growth.

The bank reported a net income of Rs.11.29 billion, up 18.32 percent from the same period in 2024, on the back of some robust growth in new loans, despite the margin narrowed somewhat.

The bank gave loans worth Rs.135.38 billion in 2025, at a growth of 25.6 percent. Out of those full-year loans, as much as Rs.66.87 billion came during the final three months, in a departure from what was seen in most other banks, which slowed down the growth in loans towards the year-end.

Under the loans, leases grew by about Rs.12.0 billion in 2025. Pawning too rose by roughly Rs.12.8 billion.

The bank’s net interest margin – the gap between what the bank earns from its loans and what it pays for its deposits – slipped to 4.5 percent, from 4.9 percent at the start of the year, in response to the declining interest rates.

The bank also raised deposits worth Rs.86.14 billion, at a 13.3 percent growth in 2025.

In other funding, the bank also raised Rs.15.0 billion from five and 10-year debentures in July.

The bank, against this backdrop, reported earnings of Rs.6.04 a share or Rs.3.84 billion for the October-December quarter, up 9.35 percent from the same period in 2024.

For the full year, the bank reported earnings of Rs.19.14 a share or Rs.12.17 billion, up by a robust 20.3 percent.

The quarterly profits were further aided by the fee incomes, which rose by 21.8 percent to Rs.2.37 billion.

The bank made provisions of Rs.122.39 billion for the loans and other losses in the quarter, compared to Rs.2.49 billion in the year earlier period.

In the same period last year, the bank had a provision reversal in the magnitude of Rs.4.96 billion, on account of the Sri Lanka International Sovereign Bonds.

As of the end of last year, Brown & Company PLC had a 10.48 percent stake in Seylan Bank while the government, through Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, the pension funds and Bank of Ceylon, held slightly more than 30 percent in the bank.