October 23rd, 2020
The Board of Directors of Meezan Bank Limited in its meeting, held on October 20, 2020 approved the financial statements of the Bank for the nine months period ended September 30, 2020. The meeting was presided by Mr. Riyadh S.A. A. Edrees – Chairman of the Board, Mr. Faisal A. A. A. Al – Nassar – Vice Chairman of the Board was also present.
The Bank recorded excellent results for the nine months period ended September 30, 2020 with Profit after tax of Rs 18.1 billion as compared to Rs 10.9 billion in the corresponding period last year – an impressive growth of 65%. The Bank posted profit after tax of Rs 6.4 billion for the third quarter of 2020. The EPS of the Bank on enhanced share capital, for the nine months period ended September 30, 2020 increased to Rs 12.78 as compared to Rs 7.73 in corresponding period last year. The Board has approved 40% (Rs 4.00 per share) interim cash dividend for all shareholders. This cash dividend is in addition to a 10% bonus share issue announced in the last quarter. The Bank remains a well-capitalized institution with Capital Adequacy Ratio of 23.14% as at September 30, 2020 – over and above the minimum regulatory requirement of 11.50%.
The Bank’s net spread grew by 50% from corresponding period last year due to its continuous focus on maintaining a high volume of earning assets portfolio. The Bank’s other income (non-funded income) also registered a good growth of 7% while total income of the Bank grew by 43% from Rs 39.9 billion in September 2019 to Rs 56.9 billion in September 2020. Administrative and other operating expenses increased to Rs 22.7 billion from Rs 18.4 billion in corresponding period last year primarily due to opening of 113 new branches since September 2019. The Bank now has a total network size to 802 branches in more than 240 cities.
Deposits of the Bank closed at Rs 1.09 trillion – 17% up from December 2019. The growth in deposits mainly comes from increase in current account and savings account deposits which contributed 95% to the total increase enhancing the Bank’s CASA ratio to 77% compared to 74% in 2019. The Bank maintained its position as the leading Islamic bank in Pakistan (amongst both Islamic as well as conventional banks).
Total Assets of the Bank grew by 18% to Rs 1.32 trillion. The investments of the Bank grew by 61% to Rs 362 billion mainly due to investment in GoP Ijarah Sukuk and Pakistan Energy Sukuk – II. Islamic Financing closed at Rs 490 billion as at September 30, 2020, slightly lower than December 2019 mainly due to repayment of seasonal financing. The Bank maintains a comfortable level of provisions against its non-performing financings with a coverage ratio of 140% – one of the highest in the banking industry while it has one of the lowest infection ratio of 2%.