Shareholder/Director Profile
Director Profile
POB is a fully owned subsidiary of Pan Oceanic Investments Pte Ltd, a company incorporated in Singapore. The Directors of the company as at 31st December 2023 are as follows:
Incorporation and Legal status
Pan Oceanic Bank (POB) is a limited liability company, incorporated on 18 April 2013 in Solomon Islands. It is a licensed commercial bank incorporated and governed by the Companies Act 2009 and the Financial Institutions Act 1998. The registered office of the bank is at Coopers Brother Limited, Komi Fera Building Pako, Commonwealth Avenue, Honiara.
Some salient feature of POB operations
POB is a fully fledged commercial bank having its Head Office at Level 1, Hyundai Mall, Mendana Avenue, Honiara, Solomon Islands, and a Branch Office at Kukum, Solomon Islands.
POB’s principal activities include Retail, Corporate, Commercial, International Trade, Treasury operations and general banking services. POB’s business model, products and services offered are all consciously adapted to suit the specific needs of an economy growing at a moderate pace. POB’s superior range of products and services are specifically tailored to meet the varied needs of Micro, Small and Retail sectors of the local economy, as part of the bank’s unwavering commitment to ensure inclusive financial growth and a technologically adept banking industry that will in turn facilitate a new digital payments revolution across the Solomon Islands.
Current status
Future direction
POB has strategized to take a full retail and middle market approach to commercial banking to capture the larger margins offered in the SME/Commercial sector and to win a significant share of the national trade market. POB currently holds a 40% share of exports and a 20% share of imports in the Solomon Islands’ national trade. Additionally, POB has secured an 8% market share in deposits and a 12% share in lending.
The logging and timber industries contribute 45% of the Solomon Islands’ total export revenue, forming the backbone of the economy, with nearly 90% of this business now facilitated through POB. By the end of December 2023, POB successfully captured 80% of the foreign exchange revenue on total fuel imports into the Solomon Islands.
The bank’s strategy emphasizes risk diversification by offering facilities to numerous smaller SME/Commercial borrowers rather than concentrating on upper-level lending to a few large customers. POB maintains its position as the leader in “Speed to Market” decisions and products, reinforcing its reputation as the most customer-friendly bank in the Solomon Islands.
POB has strategized to take a full retail and middle market approach to commercial banking in order to capture the larger margins offered at the SME/Commercial sector and to win the largest trade share (currently at 60% of all export volumes). POB already has the leading market share of 30% of overall trade and has a 15% share of the deposit/lending of the market. 62% of Solomon Island’s total export revenue relates to the logging and timber industries which forms the backbone of the SI economy, and nearly 90% of this business now goes through POB. Furthermore, by the end of December 2020, POB has managed to secure 80% of the foreign exchange revenue on total fuel imports in to the Solomon Islands.
The bank’s strategy is to spread its risks through offering its facilities to the many smaller SME/Commercial borrowers rather than risking at upper level lend to a few larger customers. POB maintains its status as the best “Speed to Market” on decisions and products, apparently making POB the most customer friendly bank in the Solomon Islands.
POB’s Value Proposition
POB believes that the following factors give it the ‘cutting edge’ over its competitors:
– Local incorporation.
– ‘Speed to Market’ (All decisions are locally made compared to branches of foreign banks where the decisions makers are based overseas with little knowledge of the local market).
– Best local knowledge.
– POB’s slogans “Empowering the Nation” “Your local bank” are seen by the local population as “Our bank”.
– Ability to develop strategic partnerships without lengthy “bureaucratic” layers and same applies to making decisions that is of strategic importance.
– Innovation is quick and simple with POB; it is a one country operation.
Quality of the Risk management systems at POB
Banks as financial intermediaries are subject to a multitude of financial and non-financial risks such as credit, interest rate, exchange rate, liquidity, commodity price, legal, regulatory, reputational and operational etc. In the interest of its stakeholders, which also include the public at large, POB is having robust risk management systems in place in terms of risk identification, assessment and control to avoid or mitigate the adverse impacts arising from unwarranted exposure to these risks.
Management
The key management team from Sri Lanka consists of well qualified experienced bankers and their professionalism in the designated roles is a major strength in the progress of POB.
Management team of POB:
Gishan Illangakoon
Chief Executive Officer
Gary Balasingham
Head of IT & Digital Banking
Kapila Nanayakkara
Manager Credit
Vikum Welagedara
Manager Operations
Pulanthiran Kajen
Information Security Officer
Bathiya Rathnayake
Manager Finance & Treasury
Rohan Fernando
Manager Risk & Compliance
Anuradha Jayasuriya
Manager Internal Audit
Market and Industry overview
The Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of a large number of Islands in Oceania lying to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu and covering a land area of 27,986 square kilometers. The country also occupy around 900 miles over the South Pacific Ocean. Solomon Island’s population is 721,000 and Per Capita GDP is USD 2,367-, The real GDP growth rate is 4.47%.
The Solomon Islands is a constitutional monarchy with the King of Solomon Islands, currently King Charles, as its head of state. Jeramiah Manale is the current Prime Minister of Solomon Islands.
The Solomon Islands’ agriculture products are cocoa, coconut, palm kernels, rice, vegetables, fruits, cattle, pigs, fish, timber and its main industries are fish (tuna), mining, timber, and gold.
Private sector credit trends
With the improvements in infrastructure facilities to cater to Pacific Games in 2023, private sector credit has picked up and is expected to grow upward in the next couple of years. This increasing trend and growth are expected to expand further connecting other sectors such as tourism, new industries, health sector, etc. Structural liquidity levels in the banking system remains high and there are opportunities to expand Private sector Credit.
Economic prospects
Foreign investments have begun to flow in and the country’s untouched resources could be used to optimized leading to economic growth. With expected boom in the economy, CBSI expects higher growth in GDP of Solomon Islands. In line with higher growth, a drop in inflation is also expected