LAHORE-The Board of Directors of The Bank of Punjab convened on August 24, 2023, to review and approve the un-audited financial statements for the 1st half of the year ending on June 30, 2023. During the meeting, the Board assessed the bank’s performance and expressed satisfaction with the overall financial results achieved amidst the current operating landscape. They particularly appreciated the performance with respect to capital enhancement and building core revenues of the bank during the first half of the year, and being number one mid-sized bank in agricultural financing and number one bank across the industry in banking on equality, as per the evaluation criteria of SBP.
Throughout this period, the bank effectively executed chosen strategies to ensure consistent growth and stable earning streams. As of June 30, 2023, the bank’s balance sheet size exceeded the Rs. 2.0 trillion milestone, positioning it as one of the newest entrants into the industry’s large banks. Consequently, total assets exhibited a year-on-year (YOY) growth of 64%. The bank’s deposits also surged to Rs. 1,370 billion, reflecting a noteworthy YOY growth of 33%. Moreover, the bank’s CASA deposits reached Rs. 889 billion, marking a YOY growth of 22%. Loans & advances stood at Rs. 907 billion, indicating a substantial YOY growth of 59%. Similarly, investments & lending to FIs surged to Rs. 923 billion, displaying a significant YOY growth of 65%. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR) exhibited significant improvement, rising to 15.09% from 12.62% as of June 30, 2022. This confirms the bank’s compliance with regulatory capital requirements with a substantial margin over stipulated minimum requirements. During the 1st half of 2023, non-markup/interest income escalated to Rs. 5.73 billion, up from Rs. 3.60 billion in the 1st Half of 2022, signifying a notable growth of 59%. The Net Interest Margin (NIM) also improved, reaching Rs. 17.42 billion compared to Rs. 15.86 billion in the same period of 2022. The bank’s investment portfolio holds the potential to further enhance the NIM through the repricing of investments and government securities. A significant portion of this optimization has recently been achieved, with the remaining improvements expected to materialize in due course, starting from the third quarter of 2023.
In the 1st half of the year, the bank continued to successfully recovered/regularized a non-performing portfolio amounting to Rs. 3.3 billion, achieved without relying on substantial one-off gains. Diligent efforts are ongoing to drive substantial recovery in the upcoming periods. The bank’s pre-tax profit for the 1st half of the year reached Rs. 4.0 billion, with earnings per share (EPS) for the 1st Half of 2023 standing at Rs. 1.05 per share.
M/s PACRA has assigned a long-term entity rating of “AA+” to the bank, coupled with the highest short-term rating of “A1+”. The bank’s extensive network comprises 780 online branches, including 140 Taqwa Islamic Banking Branches and 16 sub-branches. Additionally, the bank operates a network of 744 ATMs, providing round-the-clock banking services to its customers. The bank takes pride in offering a diverse array of products and services to its esteemed clientele, encompassing Branchless banking, mobile banking, internet banking, credit card, and cash management services.