Soneri Bank earns Rs 2.21b profit in 2015

LAHORE: The Soneri Bank Limited has declared Rs 2.21 billion after tax profit for the year ended December 31, 2015.

The declaration was made during the 24th Annual General Meeting of the bank which was chaired by Chairman of the Bank, Alauddin Feerasta and attended by the shareholders.

During the meeting, the annual financial statements of Soneri Bank Limited for the year ended December 31, 2015 were approved by the shareholders.

The shareholders also approved a cash dividend of Rs 1.25 per share, which was recommended by the Board of Directors in their meeting held on 11 February 2016. The Chairman briefed the shareholders that key reasons for better performance in 2015 were continued focus on core area of activity, advances, deposits and trade and strategic positioning which allowed the Bank to enhance its earnings from both investments and nonmarkup sources. Total deposits as reported in the annual audited accounts, reflecting sound growth of 13.46 closed at Rs 185.22 billion while net advances at the end of the year 2015 amounted to Rs 112.00 billion, being up by 3.74 percent.

Resultantly, the net assets closed at Rs 18.19 billion thus translating into a growth of 6.76 percent from the 2014 level. During the year, the Bank issued Listed Term Finance Certificates (TFC 2) worth Rs 3.00 billion. It was successfully closed and was oversubscribed by Rs 810 million (1.3 times) as it was structured as Pre-IPO subscription of Rs 2.25 billion and IPO of Rs 0.75 billion.