The board of directors of Bank Alfalah Limited in their meeting held on 24 April 2017, approved the Bank’s quarterly un-audited financial statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. The Bank posted a profit before tax of Rs. 4.290 billion for the quarter, 13.1 per cent higher than the last corresponding period.
Earnings per share were reported at Rs. 1.75 as against Rs. 1.55 posted for the previous corresponding period.
Despite the challenges that persisted due to a consistently low interest rate regime and comparatively lower yields on PIBs, the Bank managed to grow its net interest income by 2.3 per cent, as against the corresponding prior period. This was mainly attributable to the volumetric growth as the Bank managed to grow its loan book by an impressive 16 per cent, on a year on year basis.
The Bank’s non-mark up income also improved by 8.4 per cent, as against the corresponding quarter, with Core Fee, Commission and Brokerage income, as well as foreign exchange income growing by 24.3 per cent and 24.8 per cent, respectively.
Improved recoveries against Non-Performing Loans, resulting from strong recovery efforts, led to a positive impact on net provisioning, which further aided bottom line profitability. Administrative expenses continued to be managed, reflecting a growth of less than 2 per cent as against the prior corresponding period.
Total deposits were reported at Rs. 600 billion, down by 6 per cent from the year end December 2016 levels – reflecting the Bank’s continuing efforts to bring down high cost deposits, leading to an improved CASA mix of 85 per cent at March 2017, as well as a reduction in the overall cost of funds.
With these levels, the Bank’s ADR stands improved by 66 per cent. At March 31, 2017, the Bank’s non-performing loans (NPLs) ratio stood at 4.65 per cent, better than the industry’s average, while the Bank’s NPL coverage has improved by 88.3 per cent.
