Daily Times

The annual financial statements of Soneri Bank Limited for the year ended 31 December 2019 were approved by the shareholders of the Bank in its 28th AGM held simultaneously via Videocon in Lahore and Karachi, on Thursday, 26 March 2020. The meeting of the shareholders was chaired by Mr. Alauddin Feerasta, Chairman of the Board, with Mr. Mohammad Aftab Manzoor, President and Chief Executive Officer and other members of the Board of Directors also in attendance. The Bank posted profit before tax (PBT) of Rs. 3,247 million and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 1,906 million in the year 2019, as compared to Rs. 2,905 million and Rs. 1,784 million respectively in 2018, increasing by 11.78 percent and 6.86 percent respectively. The Bank’s EPS for the year was reported at Rs. 1.7289 per share. During the meeting, the shareholders approved the final cash dividend for the year ended 31 December 2019 @ 10 percent i.e. Rs. 1.00 per share, as recommended earlier by the Board of Directors.

Briefing the shareholders on the financial results, the President and CEO mentioned that the Bank’s Net Interest Income (NII) improved by 14 percent year on year, primarily due to improved volumes as well as spreads. He mentioned that core fee and commission earnings, dividend income and foreign exchange income all indicated positive growth, improving by 9.89 percent, 28.30 percent and 15.46 percent respectively, while the negative impact on overall Non-Interest Income was mainly due to the impact of losses incurred on the Capital markets portfolio due to adverse market conditions that prevailed over a substantial part of the year. He further mentioned that the Bank’s Net Advances portfolio grew by 9.88 percent year on year, while Net Investments indicated a growth of 20.74 percent over 2018. Deposits crossed the level of Rs. 300 billion, increasing by 15.13 percent over 2018. As at 31 December 2019, the gross Advances to Deposits ratio (ADR) of the Bank stood at 70.35 percent, the Bank’s infection ratio improved to 5.13 percent, while the specific provision coverage stood at 69.46 percent.

While discussing the Bank’s outlook and strategy, the Chairman of the Board said that the country was indeed going through a tough phase, but he assured the Shareholders that the Board and the management of the Bank are working together in order to deliver on the Bank’s Strategic targets. During the meeting, the Shareholders of the Bank elected the Bank’s Directors for a term of three years, namely Mr. Alauddin J. Feerasta, Mr. Nooruddin Feerasta, Mr. Ahmed A. Feerasta, Mr. Muhammad Rashid Zahir, Mr. Jamil Hassan Hamdani, Ms. Navin Salim Merchant and Mr. Manzoor Ahmed – NIT nominee, , subject to their FPT clearance from the State Bank of Pakistan.