May 4th, 2009
Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s largest Islamic Bank has posted 13% growth in its Post-tax profit for the first quarter ended March 31st 2009. The post-tax profit increased to Rs. 283 million compared to Rs. 251 million in the corresponding period of last year.
Income from core banking business has increased by 74% maintaining the healthy trend of decreasing dependency to volatile non-banking income. Earnings per Share (EPS) for the first quarter was Re. 0.57 as compared to Re. 0.51 in corresponding period last year.
The performance of Meezan Bank during the period has been very good with significant growth in all areas of its business activities especially deposits, that grew by 34% over the corresponding period last year. Asset growth has been slow in keeping with the cautious and prudent financing policy of the Bank. As a result Asset to Deposit Ratio is now at approximately 50% reflecting the very liquid position of the Bank.
This significant growth is mainly attributable to an aggressive branch expansion plan and effective direct sales strategy. The Bank presently has 166 branches in 41 cities across Pakistan. All branches are ‘on-line’ and are supported by state of the art 24/7 Banking services to all its customers, which include over 140 ATMs, Internet Banking and Call Center that operates 24 hours a day seven days a week. Meezan Bank offers a comprehensive Debit Card that is accepted at over 3,000 outlets across Pakistan and will be launching a new Visa Debit card soon Insha’Allah. The Bank is investing heavily in technology and is currently in the process of implementing a new core banking application. It also recently inaugurated a new state-of-the-art Data Centre incorporating the latest systems to support its new technology initiatives.
Meezan Bank’s mission is to provide its customers dedicated and pure Islamic Banking facilities with the greatest of convenience and personalized service with real time online branches in all major cities of the country. The Bank has a dedicated Customer Care Unit to maintain and measure service excellence for all customers.