Lahore: A meeting of the board of directors of The Bank of Punjab (BOP) was held on March 29, 2017, to approve the audited financial statements of the bank for the year ended on December 31, 2016.
During the year 2016, BOP continued to consolidate its position by posting superlative financial results throughout the year. Owing to substantial improvement in overall business operations and prudent utilisation of available resources, BOP was able to post pre-tax profit of Rs 8 billion for the year 2016 and due to persistent profits, since year 2012, the accumulated losses have now been completely absorbed and retained earnings now stood at Rs 659 million as on December 31, 2016.
The bank’s capital base has also been greatly strengthened in last few years and the balance sheet size of the bank has also touched the level of Rs.545 billion and with very rapidly growing network of 453 branches.
During the year 2016, bank’s Net Interest Margin (NIM) improved to Rs 12.2 billion as against Rs 11.1 billion during last year and registered a growth of 10pc. The Earning per share (EPS) for the year 2016 also improved to Rs 3.12 per share as against Rs 3.05 per share for the year 2015.
Due to consistent retention of bank’s profit the net asset value per share now stood at Rs 17.91 per share as against Rs 14.58 per share last year. Bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) has now reached at level of 12.28pc against required level of 10.65pc with surplus eligible capital of Rs 3.8 billion as against Rs 0.5 billion as on December 31, 2015.
As at December 31, 2016, the deposits stood at the level of Rs 453.2 billion as against Rs 375 billion last year; thereby, showing a growth of 21pc with significant rise in low cost CASA deposits.
The gross advances and investments stood at Rs 293.9 billion and Rs 199.7 billion, respectively and bank’s total assets as on December 31, 2016 stood at Rs 545.2 billion as against Rs 472.3 billion as on December 31, 2015.
In recognition of improved financial health of the bank, the Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has upgraded the long-term entity rating of The Bank of Punjab to “AA” with short-term highest rating of “A1+”. These ratings denote a very low expectation of credit risk and indicate very strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.
With a view to support the business growth, strengthen capital structure of the bank, comply with Basel-III Capital Requirements and to support retirement of LOCs issued by GOPb, board of directors announced 70pc right share issue at a price of Rs 12 per share.
The outstanding financial performance of the bank during the year 2016 has been made possible through a cohesive teamwork under the leadership of President Naeemuddin Khan.
The board lauded the efforts of current management led by Naeemuddin Khan for transforming the bank from sick unit to a profitable entity contributing significantly in the growth of the country.
Currently, the bank has a branch network of 453 spanned across the country. The newly taken initiative of opening “Smart Branches” under the project “Sun Rise” has been hailed by the masses.
The bank has planned to open 100 more branches during the year 2017 and by close of the year overall branch network will be expanded to over 550 branches across the country.
