Silkbank in its board meeting held on Tuesday declared an operating profit of Rs 230 million for the first Quarter of 2015.The Bank’s profit before tax of Rs 75.24 million for the quarter registered an 80% increase over the corresponding period last year. The mark-up income of the Bank grew by 5% to close the quarter at Rs 2.33 billion. Non-funded income reflected an impressive growth of 45% over the same period last year, significantly contributing to the profitability of the Bank. The Bank’s total asset base grew by Rs 4.13 billion over the quarter, which reflects the strength of the operations of the bank. Investments also reflected a growth of 15% over the quarter, whereas, the advances portfolio increased by Rs 1.96 billion when compared to the corresponding period last year. Silkbank successfully reduced its non-performing loans portfolio, which decreased by Rs 884 million compared to last year’s corresponding period. Silkbank deposits posted a significant growth of Rs 5.7 billion over December 31, 2014, thus closing the quarter with a strong deposit base of Rs 74.5 billion. It is noteworthy to mention that Silkbankhad earlier announced issuance of rights shares worth Rs 10 billion, and received an advance of Rs 2 billion against right shares subscription. The State Bank of Pakistan has already accorded an in principle approval of the rights issue, which is expected to be completed during the current quarter. Silkbank has strong international sponsors, which include IFC (World Bank Group), Nomura European Investments, Bank Muscat and Sinthos Capital led by Shaukat Tarin.