Bank Alfalah Reports a 9.85 percent Decline in Profits During First 9 Months of 2020 - Android

Bank Alfalah Limited announced its unaudited condensed interim financial statements for the nine months of CY 2020. The bank reported… Read More

The post Bank Alfalah Reports a 9.85% Decline in Profits During First 9 Months of 2020 appeared first on .

Bank Alfalah Limited announced its unaudited condensed interim financial statements for the nine months of CY 2020.

The bank reported a decline of 9.85% in its profits for the above mentioned period. The profit after tax was reported at Rs. 8.33 billion as compared to Rs. 9.24 billion in the same period last year.

According to the statement issued by the bank, on the revenue front, net markup income and non-markup income showed a combined growth of 10.1% as it was reported at Rs. 44.49 billion in total as compared to Rs. 40.41 billion. The growth had a strong contribution from capital gains on government securities of Rs. 2.185 billion and foreign exchange earning of Rs. 2.762 billion.

Fee and commission income remained muted due to lower transaction volume and regulatory waivers of the branch and digital banking fees.

The bank’s operating profit was reported at Rs. 20.614 billion, up by 11.4% compared to Rs. 18.50 billion the corresponding period of 2019 despite lockdown in the country and drop in the policy rate by 625 bps during the year. Subjective provisioning, general provision buildup against advances, and upfront impairment against equities contained profit after tax to Rs. 8.331 billion, which translates into earnings per share of Rs. 4.69 (Sep 2019: Rs. 5.20).

The operating expenses were reportedly Rs. 23.38 billion, up by 9.5% compared to Rs. 21.35 billion the same period last year. This increase was largely driven by staff costs, IT support and maintenance fee, the full-year impact of new branches opened last year along with an overall impact of inflation and rupee devaluation. The cost to income ratio of the bank stood at 52.6%, slightly better than the corresponding period last year.

Total deposits and advances were reported at Rs. 820.066 billion and Rs. 520.475 billion respectively. The bank’s focus remains on re-profiling its deposit base. CASA ratio improved to 82.3% while the gross advances to deposits ratio stood at 63.5%.

The bank is at the forefront of the launch of Bank Alfalah Roshan Digital Account, a major initiative of State Bank of Pakistan, to provide innovative banking solutions for millions of Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs) seeking to undertake banking, payment, and investment activities in Pakistan. The bank is also on verge of the launch of Alfalah Ghar Asaan product, a low-cost housing finance product under the Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar initiative.

The Board of Directors, in its meeting, declared an interim cash dividend of Rs. 2.0 per share (YTD September 2019: Rs. 2.0 per share).

At the close of the period, the bank remains adequately capitalized with CAR at 18.35%.

The post Bank Alfalah Reports a 9.85% Decline in Profits During First 9 Months of 2020 appeared first on .