KARACHI: The Board of Directors of Meezan Bank met on Wednesday to review the bank’s performance and announced its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019.
According to the financials, the bank reported profit after tax of Rs15.780 billion for the year ending December 31, 2019, as compared to Rs9.134 billion for the corresponding period last year, showing a growth of 72.8 percent.
The bank declared a final cash dividend of Rs2 per share, or 20 percent. This is in addition to the interim dividend already paid at Rs3 per share, or 30 percent. This brings the cumulative divided to Rs5 per share. The bank’s earnings per share (EPS) were recorded at Rs12.12, which is a substantial jump from Rs6.97 during the same period last year.
However, this increase was in line with analysts’ expectations. The bank’s profit before tax was Rs26.978 billion, an increase of 77.7 percent financial year. Profit before provisions and tax increased by 90.6 percent. The bank’s net spread earned stood at Rs46.53 billion, or an increase of 65.2 percent.
The fee and commission income, which is earned mainly through trade business and general banking services, stood at Rs7.43 billion, and showed an increase of 8.86 percent over the corresponding period of last year. The bank’s foreign exchange income more than doubled, from Rs1.32 billion in the last period to Rs2.68 billion in this period. Its dividend income for the year ended December 31, 2019, was recorded at Rs276 million.
Earnings during the fourth quarter of the year ending December 31, 2019 stood at Rs4.9 billion, or a 25.7 percent increase QoQ.
Meanwhile, gross yield in the quarter stood at 47.1 percent flat. Hamza Kamal, senior investment analyst at AKD Securities commented, “Provisions came in slightly higher than expectation which we attribute to impairment on equities as seen in other banks.”
