Sampath Bank’s group net profit rose 15% to Rs. 8.68 billion in the September 2026 quarter, from Rs. 7.52 billion a year earlier. The increase came from a lower tax bill, not from stronger trading.
Earnings per share rose to Rs. 7.40 from Rs. 6.41, EconomyNext reported.
The headline hides the direction
Pre-tax profit fell 7% to Rs. 11.18 billion, from Rs. 12.07 billion. What turned that decline into a 15% gain at the bottom line was the income tax charge, which dropped 45% to Rs. 2.51 billion from Rs. 4.55 billion.
Read together, the two lines say the quarter was weaker on operations and stronger after tax. Any comparison of the net figure with last year’s is a comparison of two different tax regimes.
Lending drove income, costs followed
Net interest income rose 26% to Rs. 25.27 billion. Interest income grew 25% to Rs. 59.50 billion and interest expenses also grew 25%, to Rs. 34.23 billion — so the margin improvement came from volume rather than from a widening spread.
Net loans were up 24% year-to-date to Rs. 1.49 trillion, and group assets stood at Rs. 2.35 trillion at 30 September. Gross income for the quarter rose 17% to Rs. 67.55 billion, and net fee and commission income 11% to Rs. 6.93 billion.
Two cost lines ran against the result. Impairment charges rose 144% to Rs. 1.13 billion from Rs. 463.1 million, and operating expenses rose 23% to Rs. 15.68 billion. Rapid loan growth and a more than doubled impairment charge in the same quarter is the combination worth watching in the December accounts.
The rupee weakened Rs. 20.63 against the US dollar over the nine months.
Context
Sampath is the second major listed bank to report this week. This desk covered Dialog Axiata’s third-quarter result and Haycarb’s first half on Thursday. The Colombo bourse closed in the red ahead of the Budget speech.
Not reported
The filing does not explain what drove the 144% rise in impairments, or which sectors the Rs. 1.49 trillion loan book grew into. It gives no non-performing loan ratio, no capital adequacy figure, and no nine-month profit total alongside the quarterly numbers. It does not say what change in tax law or tax position produced the 45% reduction in the income tax charge, which is the single largest factor in the reported result.
On sourcing: this report rests on a single verified source. Quarterly results filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange are typically picked up by several newsrooms over the following day; no other verified outlet had filed on this result at the time of writing.
