KARACHI-The Board of Directors of Soneri Bank Limited, in its 194th meeting held in Karachi the other day, approved the bank’s condensed interim financial statements for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.
The bank posted profit before tax (PBT) of Rs. 3,348 million and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 1,295 million for the nine months ended September 2022, as compared to Rs. 4,198 million and Rs. 2,357 million respectively in the same period last year. The bank’s EPS was recorded at Rs. 1.1747 per share for the current reporting period, as compared to Rs.2.1388 for the comparative prior period.
The bank’s net interest income for the nine months ended at Rs. 7,759 million, decreasing by 8.04 percent against Rs. 8,437 million reported for the same period last year. The key factor behind this reduction was the timing difference on repricing of the overall balance sheet. Non-interest income increased impressively to end at Rs. 4,066.717 million as against Rs. 3,093.038 million for the comparative prior period. Despite inflationary pressures, growth in expenses was restricted at 19.73 percent as compared to the prior period with non-markup expenses reported at Rs. 9,003 million for the nine months period ended 30 September 2022. The bank’s net advances portfolio increased to Rs. 194,752 million as at 30 September 2022, 17.68 percent higher than the year end 2021 level, while the bank’s non-performing loans to total advances ratio improved to 4.93 percent (December 2021: 5.95 percent). Specific coverage was at 71.86 percent (December 2021: 76.51 percent).
Bank’s deposits registered an increase of 7.69 percent when compared to 31 December 2021, ending at Rs. 434,017 million at 30 September 2022. The Bank’s CA mix improved to 28.39 percent in September 2022 as against 27.17 percent at December 2021, with period end current accounts at Rs. 123,221 million as against Rs. 109,494 million at the year end 2021. The bank’s period end borrowings indicate a decrease of Rs. 46.143 billion when compared to December 2021, while overall costs increased to 10.21 percent for the nine months ended 30 September 2022 as against 6.31 percent for the comparative prior period. As a result of changes introduced by the Finance Act 2022, the bank’s effective tax rate for the period increased significantly to 61.32 percent (September 2021: 43.83 percent), as the bank had to absorb the resulting additional charge, including that for prior periods during the current period.