Daily Times

LAHORE: The Board of Directors of Soneri Bank Limited met in Karachi under the Chairmanship of Alauddin Feerasta on Tuesday to review the performance of the Bank and approved the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2017. Bank has posted profit before tax of Rs. 2,830.97 million and profit after tax of Rs. 1,643.33 million for the year ended 31 December 2017. This translates into earnings per share of Rs. 1.4906 (31 December 2016: Rs. 1.7042). The variance in earnings mainly caused by the low interest rate environment was partially offset by volumetric growth in the Balance Sheet and an increase in Trade volumes drove our non-markup income up compared to 2016. The Board of Directors has also announced final cash dividend for the year ended 31 December 2017 @ 7.50% i.e. Re. 0.75 per share.

The Bank has shown re-enforcement in all core areas of the Bank’s operations. Deposits increased by 8.30%, while current deposits grew by 22.47% over 2016. Net advances recorded a growth of 31.11% over 2016. Bank’s net assets (including surplus) amounted to Rs.18.50 billion as at 31 December 2017.

Bank adequately meets the SBP Basel III requirements and continues to maintain a low NPL ratio while building efforts on securing further recoveries.

Soneri Bank has a notable market position in trade-finance and transaction banking services and boasts a loyal and satisfied client-base in all of its 290 branches across the nation. The Bank is committed to meeting the increasing expectations of its customers and continues to build its franchise by timely investing in information technology, human resources, marketing and infrastructure.

Published in Daily Times, February  21^st 2018.