The Board of Directors of Bank Alfalah in their meeting held in Abu Dhabi on 26October 2018, approved the Bank’s un-audited condensed interim financial statements for the nine month period ended September 30, 2018.The Bank’s Profit before Taxation for the nine months period ended September 30, 2018 was recorded at Rs.14.261 Billion, as against Rs. 12.137 Billion, for the corresponding period last year, improving by 17 percent. Profit after taxation for the period was reported at Rs. 8.629 Billion, improving by 20 percent against the corresponding period last year.The earning per share stand at Rs. 5.35 for the nine months period versus Rs. 4.46 same period last year.

Net Interest Income (NII) for the period was reported at Rs. 23.242 Billion, improving by 5 percent year on year. The growth in net interest income was primarily due to improved volumes as well as spreads.

The Bank’s Non-Interest Income improved by 5percent to Rs. 8.159 Billion.The major elements contributing to the increase are higher FX, which improved by 53 percent, and core fee and commission earnings which improved by 4 percent as compared to same period last year.

Administrative Expenses ended 2 percent lower as compared to prior period, and were recorded at Rs.17.642 Billion. This is despite absorbing the impact of premium payments for depositors’ protection scheme introduced by SBP effective July 01, 2018. This is reflective of a strict culture of cost discipline which has been enforced across the bank.

At September 30, 2018, the Bank’s coverage ratio stands at 88 percent, while the NPL ratio stands at 3.5 percent. Recoveries against non-performing advances continued to outpace fresh charge booked against delinquent loans, and an overall provision reversal of Rs. 549.999 million was recorded for the nine months.

Deposits increased by 4%, ending at Rs. 680.497 Billion as Bank’s focus remains at mobilizing low cost and opportunistic deals. The Bank’s CA mix improved to 43.9% and cost of deposits has just increased by 18 bps as compared to corresponding period last year, despite the policy rate increase of 175 bps over the course of the period.

The Bank’s net assets show a growth of 6% as against December 2017 end despite the payout of yearly and interim dividends.

The Bank remains adequately capitalized, with CAR for September 2018, reported at 14.92 percent.