Corporate Ambassador/KARACHI: The 70th Annual General Meeting of National Bank of Pakistan was held in Karachi on Thursday, March 28, 2019. The meeting was attended by all the Directors of the Bank and was chaired by Mr. Arif Usmani, the President / CEO of the Bank.
The shareholders were apprised that maintaining its position in the industry, in 2018, the Bank had recorded solid growth in terms of both balance sheet size and revenues. Despite a generally difficult year for the banking industry, the Bank has achieved the highest ever revenue in its history of seven decades, which is also highest in the industry for the year 2018. Total revenue of the Bank amounted to Rs. 96.9 billion which is 13.6% higher than Rs. 85.3 billion of previous year. While net interest/mark-up income increased by 11.8% to Rs. 60.7 billion (2017:Rs. 54.3 billion); a 16.7% growth was also achieved in non-interest / mark-up income which stood at Rs. 36.2 billion.
Profit before provisions amounted to Rs. 41.0 billion which is 11.4% higher than Rs. 36.8 billion for the year 2017. During the year, the Bank recognised significant increase in loan-loss & other provisions which amounted to Rs. 11.3 billion as against Rs. 1.2 billion in the prior year. This is mainly due to default by a single borrower group which has been fully provided for. Therefore, the after-tax profit for the year ended lower by 13.1% against previous year and amounted to Rs. 20.0 billion (2017: Rs. 23.0 billion). This translates into earnings per share of Rs. 9.41 (2017: Rs. 10.82). Pre-tax and after-tax return on average equity stood at 21.8% and 14.7% respectively.
The Bank also recorded a healthy growth in balance sheet size as total assets stood at Rs. 2.8 Trillion depicting a 11.7 % growth YoY. The Bank’s gross loans & advances crossed the Rs. 1 Trillion mark and increased by Rs. 202.5 billion. The Bank’s deposits also crossed Rs. 2 Trillion mark as the same increased by Rs. 284.3 billion during the year. For better liquidity and rate-risk management, the Bank maintains a healthy portfolio of investment in low risk securities.
The CEO apprised the shareholders that 2019 marks the Bank’s 70th year of service to the Nation. NBP is continuously expanding its market outreach through adding to its product range, restructuring its business model, and adopting modern-day delivery strategies. Provision of services through Alternate Delivery Channels and Customer Service Quality are also key focus areas of the Bank. The CEO emphasised for strengthening compliance & controls, upgrading technology infrastructure, digitisation of business, improved customer service and better loan quality.
The shareholders, after detailed deliberations, unanimously approved the Annual Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 and all other items on the Agenda of the meeting.
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