LAHORE: A meeting of the Board of Directors of The Bank of Punjab was held on Thursday to consider and approve the un-audited financial statements for nine months of the year ended on September 30, 2021.

While reviewing Bank's financial performance for the nine months' period, the Board appreciated the efforts of bank's management for improvement in all areas of operations and posting strong financial results.

During the period under review, Bank's Net Interest Margin (NIM) significantly improved to Rs 21.91 billion as against Rs 17.15 billion during corresponding period last year, registering a growth of 28 percent. Similarly, Non-Markup Income, excluding gain on securities, increased to Rs 4.42 billion as against Rs 3.26 billion in the same period of 2020 with a rise of 36 percent.

Accordingly, the Bank posted after tax profit of Rs 8.72 billion as against Rs 5.83 billion earned during Jan-Sept 2020, with a substantial growth of 50 percent. Earnings per Share (EPS) for 9 months of 2021 also improved to Rs 3.30 per share as against Rs 2.20 per share for same period of last year.

Bank's total assets as at September 30, 2021 increased to Rs 1,121.55 billion as against Rs. 1,095.45 billion on December 31, 2020. Deposits grew to Rs 884.39 billion as against Rs 835.07 billion as on December 31, 2020. Investments stood at Rs 544.08 billion as against Rs 567.79 billion on December 31, 2020.

Similarly, Gross Advances improved to Rs 495.27 billion as against Rs 442.76 billion as on December 31, 2020 registering a growth of 12 percent. Equity improved to Rs 53.59 billion and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stood at 14.45 percent against regulatory requirement of 11.50 percent.

The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has upgraded Bank's long-term entity rating to "AA+" with short-term rating being already at the highest rank of "A1+". The Bank currently has a network of 641 online branches, including 105 Taqwa Islamic Banking Branches and 16 sub-branches.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021