ComBank ranked Strongest Bank in Sri Lanka by The Asian Banker

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been ranked the Strongest Bank in Sri Lanka in 2023 by TAB Insights, the global research and consulting subsidiary of TAB Global, the parent company of The Asian Banker magazine.

Notably, Commercial Bank has been ranked 265 places above the second strongest Sri Lankan bank in the TAB Global 1000 ranking.

Commercial Bank has been assigned an aggregate strength score of 5.53, with the Bank achieving high scores for deposits, profit, costs, capital adequacy ratio, liquid cover ratio, net stable funding ratio, fees, reserves, loans and return on assets.

Ranked alongside Commercial Bank on the strength index with the same score are Dongying Bank (China), Federal Bank (India), Investec Bank (South Africa), Bank Alfalah (Pakistan), RCBC (Philippines) and BNP Paribas (Poland).

The TAB Global 1000 World’s Strongest Banks ranking evaluates the 1000 largest banks in the world based on their strength. The ranking employs a detailed and transparent scorecard to assess banks using six criteria related to balance sheet performance: scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality, and liquidity, encompassing 14 specific factors.

Commenting on this ranking, Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Mr Sanath Manatunge said: “For a financial institution, ‘strength’ which depicts resilience, is by far the most important indicator, and this is even more relevant in the Sri Lankan context today. The TAB Global 1000 ranking is based on an entirely objective assessment that uses multifaceted performance figures to compute financial strength, making it an authoritative benchmark.”

The Asian Banker has been publishing its annual ranking of the Strongest Banks in the Asia Pacific region on the basis of balance sheet strength since 2007. The previous assessments ranked the top-performing banks in each country by strength, an evaluation that was based on a belief that a strong bank demonstrates long-term profitability from its core businesses. The ranking was widely followed by investors, analysts, and the media as the leading source to assess the financial strength of commercial banks in the region. This year represents a significant milestone as the ranking has been expanded to include 1000 banks and financial holding companies from across the globe, evaluating their performance for the financial year 2022, with a cut-off date in March 2023.

Sri Lanka’s first 100% carbon neutral bank and the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World, Commercial Bank operates a network of 271 branches and 957 automated machines in Sri Lanka. Commercial Bank is the largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector and is a leader in digital innovation in the country’s Banking sector. The Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the Bank operates 20 outlets; Myanmar, where it has a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw; and the Maldives, where the Bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake.