The Board of Directors of Sindh Bank has approved financial results for the nine months period ended September 30, 2014. The Bank posted pre-tax profit of Rs 1,079.388 million showing an increase of 20 per cent over the corresponding period of last year. This also exceeded the total profit of Rs 953.400 million earned during the year 2013.
Deposits stood at Rs 58.422 billion as on September 30, 2014, registering a growth of 27.7 per cent while advances amounted to Rs 37.585 billion – an increase of 41.5 per cent over 2013. The bank also recorded 300 per cent growth in disbursement of agricultural loans during 2013-14 surpassing even the revised SBP target.
The Bank’s assets quality remained sound with minimal infection in advances and investments predominantly in Pakistan investment bonds and treasury bills.
Right from its inception, the bank pursued an ambitious growth plan and opened 200 branches in less than three years period. For the current year, the bank, however, focused on consolidating its operations and decided to open only 25 branches including five Islamic Banking Branches. The same strategy will continue and only 25 new branches are planned for the year 2015, majority being dedicated for Islamic Banking.
In its continuous pursuit of customer satisfaction, the Bank is in an advanced stage to make its Debit/ATM card globally acceptable by joining up with a leading international financial services provider.
Conscious of the government and SBP efforts to promote Islamic Banking, Sindh Bank commenced Islamic Banking business under the brand name “Sa’adat” on June 26, 2014, by opening its first Islamic Banking branch whereas four more dedicated branches will be added in the last quarter.
JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Ltd has maintained the Bank’s entity rating at A-1 + for short-term and AA- for medium to long term. Outlook on the assigned ratings has, however, been improved from STABLE to POSITIVE. High capital adequacy ratio, Bank’s growth plans and strong capitalization over the foreseeable future were the major considerations behind improvement of the outlook.
