Sampath Bank Plc (Sri Lanka)

The Company s principal business activities are banking and related financial services. The Bank provides a comprehensive range of financial services encompassing accepting deposits, corporate retail banking, project financing, trade finance, treasury and investment services, issuing of credit cards and debit cards, off shore banking, resident nonresident foreign currency operations, telephone banking, internet banking, money remittance facilities, pawning leasing, etc.
The Bank was incorporated on Sri Lanka on 10 th March 1986 under Companies Act No. 17 of 1982 and listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Certificate to Commence business received on 2 April 1986. The Bank, a fully owned subsidiary of Sampath Bank Limited engaged in the business of Leasing of Equipment and Factoring of Trade Receivables commenced its operations on 12th May 2005. Invested another Rs. 80 Mn in our associate company, LankaBangla Finance Limited, by buying Vanik s 15 percent holding of four million shares in the company, to become LankaBangla s major shareholder. Union Bank of Colombo Ltd became an Associate of Sampath Bank with another investment of Rs. 105 Mn thus increasing our shareholding to 24.60 .
In 1988:
The Bank s Automated Teller Machines were introduced to Sri Lanka for the first time.
In 1989:
Uni – Banking system was introduced to the country for the first time.
In 1991:
- Mr. Stanley William became the Chairman of the Bank.
- Mr. Edgar Gunatunge joined the Board of Directors as the Deputy Chairman/ Managing Director.
In 1993:
Mr. Dunstan De Alwis became the Chairman of the Bank.
In 1996:
- Mr. Kumar Abayanayake assumed duties as the General Manager/Chief Executive Officer.
-(asiamoney) the prestigious financial magazine in Asia voted Sampath Bank as the ‘Best Commercial Bank of the year' in Sri Lanka.
In 1997:
- The Bank was awarded the Best Small-Cap Bank in South Asia by the prestigious (Asia Banking Digest).
- The Bank was honoured with the award, ‘Best Commercial Bank of the Year' by ‘asiamoney' for the second year in succession.
- Introduction of Debit Card in association with ‘Cirrus' and ‘Maestro' for the first time in South Asia.
In 1998:
- Mr.Edgar Gunatunge appointed as the Chairman of the bank.
- The Bank was honoured with the award, ‘Best Commercial Bank of the Year' by ‘asiamoney' for the third year in succession.
- In appreciation of the innovative steps taken, the Bank was awarded ‘Outstanding New Business Venture Project' in 1988 by ‘Asian Banking
Digest'.
In 1999
- Mr. Anil Amarasuriya assumed duties as General Manager/Chief Executive Officer.
- The ‘Forbes Global' Magazine listed Sampath Bank under the 300 best small companies in the world.
In 2000:
The Bank was chosen ‘ the Bank of the year 2000' in Sri Lanka by the prestigious magazine ‘The Banker'.
In 2002
- Top award for Human Resource Management Services Sector.
- Large Companies was awarded to Sampath Bank at the National HRM Awards 2002.
In 2003:
- As a first step towards expanding in the South East Asian Region, the Bank invested in LankaBangla Finance Ltd. a leasing and credit card company in Bangladesh.
In 2004:
- The Bank won two prestigious awards i.e. First Runner-up in Overall Category and the award for best HR practice in the service sector large category at the National HRM Awards 2004.
In 2005:
- The Bank was adjudged the Bes Corporate Citizen for the year 2005 in the top ten category and was also the joint winner in the Best Economic Performance for the year 2005.
- The Bank won the Gold Award, in the Financial Category and award for ‘Best Financial Application' presented by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka at the ‘National Best Quality Software Awards 2005' organised by the British Computer Society, Sri Lanka Branch for developing an IVR Based Bill Payment System in association with Dialog Telekom.
- The Bank was placed Second Runner-up in Banking Sector for business excellence at (National Business Excellence Awards 2005)
organised by The National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka.
In 2006:
- The Annual Report 2005 was adjudged Runner-up for the second consecutive year in Banking Institutions category for Best Presented Accounts awarded by South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) and was also selected as the Runner-up for the third consecutive year in' Awards for Excellence in Annual Reports' competition organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.
- Credit rating was enhanced to AA- (lka) by Fitch Rating (Lanka) Ltd.
In 2007:
- ATM network reached 150 machines across the island and 100th Branch was opened.
In 2008:
- Mr. I W Senanayake assumed duties as the 5th Chairman of the Bank, while Mr. Harris Premaratne was designated as the Chief Executive Officer.
In 2009:
- The Bank became the third largest private sector Bank in Sri Lanka in terms of total assets.
- The Annual Report 2008 was adjudged Joint Runner-up in Banking Institutions category for Best Presented Accounts awarded by South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) and was also selected as the Joint Runnerup in ‘Awards for Excellence in Annual Reports' competition organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.
- Honored with 4 accolades at the National Business Excellence Awards ceremony 2009, organized by the National Chamber of Commerce of
Sri Lanka. Sampath Bank won the following awards:
- Silver award for the overall Competition for National Business Excellence.
- First Runner-Up Award in the Extra Large Category.
- Winner of the Banking Sector of Sri Lanka Award.
- Winner in Excellence in Business Financial Performance Award.
- The Bank reached a greater height by clinching the global accolade ‘Bank of the Year – 2009' by the highly acclaimed international
magazine ‘The Banker' of Financial Times - London.
In 2010:
- The Bank opened 40 Branches and 39 ATMs during the year, bringing total number of branches to 171 and total number of ATMs to 222 by end of 2010.
- ‘Bank of the Year – 2010' was awarded for the second consecutive year by the highly acclaimed international magazine ‘The Banker' of Financial Times - London.
- National Chamber of Commerce awarded 3 prestigious awards at the National Business Excellence Awards 2010, conducted in recognition of the business organizations excelled in the Sri Lanka.
- Winner -excellence in business and financial performance.
- Runner up banking sector.
- Second runner up-extra large Category.
- South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), awarded Joint.
- 1st Runner-up award for Sampath Bank Annual Report - 2009 for the best presented accounts among SAARC countries in the Banking Sector Category.
- At the Effie Advertising Awards 2010, Bank won Bronze Award for the thematic credit card campaign titled ‘Sampath Cards - The Responsible Choice'. This award has been granted considering both the effectiveness and the creativity of the campaign as well
- Internally developed software, Sampath Vishwa Corporate - Trade Services Facility gathered momentum, when awarded silver at the ‘National Best Quality Software Awards 2010, under the in-house category and as one of the country's best e-content applications in the category of e-Business and Commerce in ‘e-Swabhimani Awards 2010'.
- Forming a novel concept in the banking history in Sri Lanka, a ‘scrip dividend' was proposed as final dividend subsequent to the interim
dividend paid in 2010.