The Board of Directors of BankIslami Pakistan Limited (‘The Bank’ or ‘BankIslami’) in their meeting held on October 23, 2019 in Karachi approved the Bank’s un-audited financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

BankIslami recorded operating profit before provisions of Rs. 2,784 Mn, which is 18.3 times as compared to Rs. 144 Mn generated during the same period last year. Growth of 76.5% in net spreads earned, emanating from increase in earning assets of the Bank and rise in SBP policy rate, was the main contributor in improving the bottom line. Improvement in cost to income ratio from 97.2% to 66.2% was registered during the period. Taking a prudent view, the Bank booked additional provisioning against any potential delinquencies, and posted profit after tax of Rs. 973 Mn for nine months ended September 30, 2019 which is 8.8 times better than PAT of Rs. 99 Mn recorded during the same period last year.

During the period under review, BankIslami’s balance sheet depicted impressive growth despite challenges arising from prevailing economic environment. On the back of its effectively managed branch network, Bank’s Deposit base grew by 15.4% to close at Rs. 213 Bn when compared with December 2018. In line with increase in sources, assets base of the Group also rose by 21.9% in comparison to the assets standing at the end of December 2018. Owing to pre-emptive measures taken on the recovery side, Bank’s NPL ratio trimmed to 10.6% in September 2019 vis-à-vis NPL ratio of 11.9% as at December 2018. As stated above, the Bank booked accelerated provisioning against its infected portfolio due to which coverage ratio (including general provisions) improved to 82.4% by September 2019 as opposed to coverage ratio of 72.5% at the end of December 2018.

BankIslami, to boost its capital base, is in the process of issuing Listed Additional Tier-1 Capital (Sukuk) of Rs. 2 Bn [including greenshoe option of Rs. 500 Mn] during the year 2019. Moreover, the Bank has also announced issuance of Right Shares amounting to Rs. 1 Bn, which will further fortify its net worth and capital adequacy.