KARACHI
The Board of Directors of Bank Alfalah Limited approved the bank’s half yearly, unaudited financial statements, for the period ended June 30, 2017. The bank posted a profit before tax of Rs 8.470 billion for the half year, higher than the corresponding prior period by 11.6 per cent. Earnings per share were reported at Rs 3.04.
The bank’s net interest income after provisions improved by 5 per cent to Rs 14.956 billion, despite the consistently low-interest rate regime and impact of maturities of high yielding government bonds affecting core revenues. This growth was also aided by improved recoveries in the current period against NPLs as the bank recorded a net reversal of Rs 136.085 million against classified assets for the current half year as against a net charge of Rs 408.462 million considered in the corresponding prior period.
The bank’s non-markup income also improved by 9.6 per cent against the corresponding period, with core fee, commission and brokerage income, as well as foreign exchange income growing by 18.4 per cent and 21.2 per cent respectively.
Administrative expenses grew moderately by 2.4 per cent as all non-essential costs continued to remain in check. At the period end, the bank’s coverage ratio stands improved to 89.3 per cent, whereas the NPL ratio has improved to 4.2 per cent.
Total deposits at the period end were reported at Rs 656.53 billion, improving by 2.43 per cent from the year end level. The bank has continued to focus strongly on re-profiling its deposit base, with current accounts registering a growth of 15.5 per cent year on year, while fixed deposits were reduced by 16.6 per cent year on year. At June 2017, the bank’s CASA mix stands improved at 82.9 per cent.
Total assets were reported at Rs 958.007 billion, improving by 4.4 per cent against December 2016. With Gross advances reported at Rs 426.723 billion, the bank’s ADR stands at 65 per cent, one of the best in the industry.
The bank is led by Nauman Ansari, a seasoned banker with strong professional acumen, who has recently taken over from the outgoing CEO, Atif Bajwa.
