Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)
The Board of Directors of Soneri Bank Limited, in their 196th meeting held in Lahore on 22nd February 2023, announced the Bank’s financial results for the year ended 31 December 2022.
The Bank posted profit before tax (PBT) of Rs. 4,554 million and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 1,883 million for the year ended December 2022, as compared to Rs. 5,149 million and Rs. 2,854 million respectively for the prior year. The Bank’s EPS was recorded at Rs. 1.7082 per share for the current reporting period, as compared to Rs. 2.5889 per share for the year 2021.
The Bank’s Net Interest income for the year ended at Rs. 11,267 million, increasing by 3.01 percent against Rs. 10,938 million for the prior year, while non-interest income increased by 20.21 percent to end at Rs. 5,157 million as against Rs. 4,290 million for the last year. Despite inflationary pressures, growth in expenses was restricted at 20.16 percent as compared to the prior year with Non-markup expenses reported at Rs. 12,245 million for the year ended December 2022.
The Board of Directors has recommended cash dividend for the year ended 31 December 2022 @ 10.00 percent i.e. Rs. 1.00 per share (2021: @ 15.00 percent i.e. Rs. 1.50 per share), subject to shareholders’ approval in the forthcoming AGM.
The Bank’s net advances portfolio increased to Rs. 208,434 million as at 31 December 2022, 25.95 percent higher than the year end 2021 level, while the Bank’s Non-performing loans to total Advances ratio improved to 4.71 percent (December 2021: 5.95 percent). Specific coverage was at 71.61 percent (December 2021: 76.51 percent).
Bank’s Deposits registered an increase of 1.64 percent when compared to 31 December 2021, ending at Rs. 409,643 million at 31 December 2022. The Bank’s CA mix improved to 32.73 percent in December 2022 as against 27.17 percent at December 2021, with year end Current Accounts at Rs. 134,080 million as against Rs. 109,494 million at the year end 2021.
As a result of the changes introduced by the Finance Act 2022, the overall effective tax rate for the Bank for the year ended 31 December 2022 stood at 58.65 percent (2021: 44.57 percent).
Following the exercise of the call option for its existing TFCII of Rs. 3,000 million, the Bank issued fresh unsecured, subordinated, rated, privately placed Term Finance Certificates of Rs 4,000 million on 26 December 2022, having a tenor of 10 years. PACRA has assigned a rating of ‘A+’ with Stable Outlook to this instrument. The instrument is in process of being subsequently listed under the Debt Security Listing Regulations.
While there are challenging times ahead, at Soneri Bank, we remain confident about achieving our targets both in numbers and customer satisfaction ratings. We remain committed to serving our customers to the fullest, and to achieve the milestones and KPIs for the year 2023.
