The Housing Development Finance Corporation Bank of Sri Lanka PLC, commonly abbreviated as HDFC Bank of Sri Lanka PLC, is a specialised

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

bank in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The bank commenced operations in 1984 as a building society. Through successive acts in the Parliament of Sri Lanka over the years, the bank transformed into a state-owned enterprise, then a specialised bank and a listed company on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 2005. Since widening its scope of business in 2011, the bank established itself as a supporter of small and medium-sized enterprises. The government of Sri Lanka holds 51% of the bank's stocks, mainly through the National Housing Development Authority. HDFC Bank is one of the '' LMD 100'' companies in Sri Lanka. The bank ranked 78th in the 2020/21 edition. Brand Finance calculated the

brand value A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

of HDFC Bank to be LKR763 million in 2022. Due to the effects of the Sri Lankan economic crisis, Fitch Ratings placed the bank along with twelve other Sri Lankan banks on Rating Watch Negative.

History

The Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) was incorporated in December 1983 as a

building society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. Building societies exist in the United Kingdo ...

. The HDFC was established under the National Housing Act No. 37 of 1957 and it commenced operations in June 1984. The Housing Development Finance Corporation of Sri Lanka Act No. 7 of 1997 passed in the parliament of Sri Lanka. Under the act, the HDFC was established as a

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...

. The act was amended in 2003, allowing the HDFC to reestablish itself as a specialised bank. The bank was listed on the

Colombo Stock Exchange The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) ( si, කොළඹ ව්‍යාපාර වස්තු හුවමාරුව, translit=Kolamba Vyapara Vasthu Huvamaruva; ta, கொழும்பு பங்கு பரிவர்த்தனை) i ...

in 2005. Beginning in 2011, the bank broadened its scope of operations to enter into new market segments of banking. Due to the bank's success in supporting micro, small and medium-scaled enterprises prompted the bank to establish a separate unit to focus on micro, small and medium-scaled enterprises. The bank signed a mandate for the issuance of listed debentures with the People's Bank in 2013. The debenture issuance was rated by Fitch Ratings as 'BBB(lka)'. In 2014, HDFC Bank's then-chairperson, Siromi Wickramasinghe was named among the 50 Most Powerful Women in Sri Lanka by the business magazine, ''Echelon''.

Operations

The

government of Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the is ...

holds a controlling stake of 51% of the bank's stocks. The National Housing Development Authority holds a 49.73% stake. Despite the effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the bank posted an LKR978 million

profit before tax In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) is a measure of a firm's profit that includes all incomes and expenses (operating and non-operating) except interest expenses and income tax expenses. Operating income and o ...

in 2020. The bank offered 21,000

debt moratorium A debt moratorium is a delay in the payment of debts or obligations. The term is generally used to refer to acts by national governments. Moratory laws are usually passed at times of special political or commercial stress: for instance, on severa ...

s amounting to LKR17 billion in the same year.

Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency and is one of the " Big Three credit rating agencies", the other two being Moody's and Standard & Poor's. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) ...

affirmed its BB+(lka)

credit rating A credit rating is an evaluation of the credit risk of a prospective debtor (an individual, a business, company or a government), predicting their ability to pay back the debt, and an implicit forecast of the likelihood of the debtor defaulting. ...

of the bank in September 2021. The credit outlook was adjudged as stable. However, Fitch placed the bank along with twelve other banks in Sri Lanka on Rating Watch Negative. The rating agency considered the banks' foreign currency funding and liquidity positions to be volatile amid poor creditor confidence as a result of the Sri Lankan economic crisis. HDFC Bank won the merit award at the 2021 National Business Excellence Awards organised by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka. The HDFC Bank signed a memorandum of understanding with

JAT Holdings JAT Holdings PLC is a Sri Lanka based multinational paint company headquartered in Thalawathugoda, Sri Lanka. The company is engaged in the business of manufacturing, selling and distribution of paints, wood coatings and products related to the r ...

, to offer low-interest loans for wood craftsmen and professional painters who are doing business with JAT Holdings.

References

External links

Official website
{{All Share Price Index 1984 establishments in Sri Lanka Banks of Sri Lanka Banks established in 1984 Companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange State owned commercial corporations of Sri Lanka

History

Operations

See also

References

External links