AGL 40.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
AIRLINK 127.04 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BOP 6.67 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
CNERGY 4.51 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DCL 8.55 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DFML 41.44 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DGKC 86.85 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FCCL 32.28 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FFBL 64.80 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FFL 10.25 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
HUBC 109.57 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
HUMNL 14.68 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KEL 5.05 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KOSM 7.46 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
MLCF 41.38 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
NBP 60.41 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
OGDC 190.10 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PAEL 27.83 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PIBTL 7.83 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PPL 150.06 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PRL 26.88 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PTC 16.07 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
SEARL 86.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TELE 7.71 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TOMCL 35.41 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TPLP 8.12 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TREET 16.41 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TRG 53.29 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
UNITY 26.16 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
WTL 1.26 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 10,010 Increased By 126.5 (1.28%)
BR30 31,023 Increased By 422.5 (1.38%)
KSE100 94,192 Increased By 836.5 (0.9%)
KSE30 29,201 Increased By 270.2 (0.93%)

Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL) is a public listed company, first incorporated on January 27, 1997 and started operations as an investment bank in August 97. In January 2002, Meezan Bank was granted first full-fledged commercial banking licence dedicated to Islamic banking, by the State Bank of Pakistan.
The banking sector is showing a significant paradigm shift away from traditional means of business, and is catering to an increasingly astute and demanding financial consumer who is also becoming keenly aware of Islamic banking. The bank has achieved a strong balance sheet with excellent operating profits, including a capital adequacy ratio that places the bank at the top of the industry, a long-term entity rating of A+, and a short-term entity rating of A1.
Its main shareholders are leading local and international financial institutions, including Pak-Kuwait Investment Company, the only AAA rated financial entity in the country, the Islamic Development Bank of Jeddah, and the renown Shamil Bank of Bahrain. The bank has an internationally renowned, very high calibre and proactive Shariah Supervisory Board presided over by Justice (Retd.) Maulana Muhammad Taqi Usmani.
The total number of branches increased from 28 in January 2006 to 75 in September 2007. This comprehensive branch network offers a comprehensive range of retail and wholesale banking products to a large customer base in more than 22 cities. The branch network is supported by real time on-line banking, a network of over 50 ATMs, a 24/7 Call Centre and Internet Banking.
ISLAMIC BANKING 5-YEAR PERFORMANCE:
In Pakistan, the Islamic banking system has witnessed a very healthy growth during the last couple of years and is steadily proving its potential to work as a compatible and parallel alternative system for providing financial services. At the end of December 2007, there were six full-fledged Islamic banks operating in the country with a network of 185 branches. Also there are 12 commercial banks offering Islamic banking services through 103 branches. The industry is growing in term of size and structure as shown below:



===========================================================================
Islamic Banking Highlights (Rs. b)
===========================================================================
Indicators Dec'07 Dec'06 Dec'05 Dec'04 Dec'03
===========================================================================
Total Assets of Islamic Banks 206 118 72 44 3
% of Banking Industry 4.3% 2.9% 2.1% 1.4% 0.5%
Deposits 147 83 50 30 8
% of Banking industry 4.1% 2.8% 1.9% 1.2% 0.4%
Financing & Investments 138 72 48 30 10
% of Banking industry 3.6% 2.4% 1.8% 1.3% 0.5%
===========================================================================

Total assets of the Islamic banks have been increasing significantly and the market share of Islamic banking assets in the overall banking system rose to 4.3% at the end of December 31, 2007 which was 2.9% in December 2006. Deposit base also posted impressive growth with CAGR of 107% in last four years, standing at Rs147b at the end of Dec'07 from just Rs8b in Dec'03, with a share of Islamic banks growing to 4.1% (Rs147b) in Dec'07 from 2.9% (Rs83b) in Dec'06. Financing and investment portfolio grew 50% in FY06 and 60% in FY05. The growth momentum continued in FY07 as the total financing and investment reached at Rs107b at the end of December 2007 which is 62.8% higher than the corresponding figures of Rs66b recorded in December 2006.
Recent performance (H1'08):
In the first half of the current fiscal year, Meezan Bank successfully achieved a broad-based growth, consolidating its position as the leading Islamic bank of the country. The bank declared profit after tax of Rs443m with earnings per share of Re0.98 per share in H1'08 as compared to profit after tax of Rs431m with earnings per share of Rs0.95 in the corresponding period of H1'07. Despite the fall in Pakistan's stock market during the period under review, a satisfactory growth of 3% was registered.
Net spread earned by the bank grew significantly by 57.0% during the period and amounted to Rs1.53b in H1'08 as compared to Rs977m in H1'07. The major reason behind the growth is the profit earned by the bank on the financing and investments, which were about to cross 3b mark during 6 months period of FY'08 and reached at Rs2.89b over Rs2.065b in H1'07.
Income from core banking business increased by 47%, on the back of increasing banking operations due to aggressive branch expansion policy. Other income of the bank also grew significantly to Rs1.82b in H1'08 ie 32% growth over the corresponding figures of 1.38b in H1'07. Major contribution came from the dividend income which almost tripled during H1'08 vis-a-vis H1'07, and the fee, commission and brokerage income registering a 48% growth over the period under review.
The overall balance sheet footing has also shown a 20% growth over June 30, 2007 from Rs. 60 billion to Rs. 72 billion with financing increased by 33% over corresponding period of last year. The bank's deposit base shown an increase by 28% from Rs. 45 billion to Rs. 58 billion. Amidst the difficult economic and political environment, the Bank plans to continue with its branch expansion policy aiming to open 31 new branches and 12 sub branches by December 2008.



======================================================================
Financial Highlights
======================================================================
Rupees in '000
======================================================================
June June Growth
2008 2007 %
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Deposits 57842191 45,052,679 28%
Financing 38,300,491 28,818,439 33%
Total Assets 71,736,658 59,728,892 20%
Share Capital 4,535,876 3,779,897 20%
Shareholders' Equity 6,163,055 5,187,367 19%
Net Spread Earned 1,529,677 977,290 57%
Fee, Commission & Brokerage income 199,853 134,619 48%
Profit before Tax 638,312 601,498 6%
Profit after Tax 443,145 430,958 3%
Earnings per Share 0.98 0.95 3%
(six months)-Rupee
Number of Branches 111 65 71%
(including one sub branch)
======================================================================

Financial performance (FY03-FY07)
Meezan Bank's profitability saw a promising growth of 60% in the year 2007. The growth was driven by a high net spread income of Rs.1.2bn, an increase of 71.7% from the previous year.
The ROA which had seen a slight dip to 1.30% in FY06 (2005: 1.37%) surged to 1.43 in FY07. The bank's assets have been on the average being fuelled by growths in investments and fixed asset. The bank's assets at the end of 2006 were Rs.67bn. The bank has been following a policy of expansion to cater to a large number of people, who are attracted to Islamic banking. An increased investment by 266% and the overall growth in earning assets promises higher profitability in the years to come. The ROA is above that of the other Islamic banking institutions which is 0.9%.
The deposits grew remarkably well this year around increasing by 58.4%. The deposits of the bank were Rs.54bn at the end of 2007. The banks deposits are mainly comprised of long term fixed and savings deposits comprising around 72% of the deposits. During the FY07 period, the deposit structure depicts some changes; wherein the share of fixed deposits and saving deposits increased from 38 percent and 29 percent last year to 39 percent and 32 percent in FY07 respectively, thus increasing the term deposits from 67% to 71% respectively.
Corollary to this, the share of financial institutions and current-non remunerative deposits have decreased from 10 percent and 23 percent in FY06 to 6 percent and 22 percent respectively in FY07. The shifting deposits mix is indicative of customers' continued growing trust in the Islamic banking products as they are becoming more eager to engage in long-term relationship with Islamic banks.
The ROD of the bank has seen a slight decline in 2006, being 1.84% in 2006 as against 1.75% in 2005. But rose in FY07. The bank's equity has been rising. It issued more capital in 2006 worth Rs.1.7bn. The bank's reserves grew substantially by 29.7% to Rs.721m in order to meet the SBP's liquidity requirements. As with ROD and ROA, ROE which had declined in 2006 (because the profits did not match the growth in the bank's equity), it improved in FY07. The ROE is too low compared to the sector's average of 23.8%. The administration need to get their act together to rectify the situation as the time is ripe for the growth of Islamic financial institutions.
Financing (advances) have seen a growth of almost 500% since 2003. The break-up of financing as per various Islamic modes shows the continuous predominance of Murabaha and Ijara financing, having their share of 45 percent and 22 percent respectively.
When compared with the last year, the share of Murabaha has increased and that of Ijara has remained at the same level. Diminishing Musharaka has also started to increase its share, which shows the eagerness on the part of to diversify their financing portfolio.
Net finances in Q3'07, however increased only by 30% compared to 58% robust increase in deposits. Because of the slower growth of financing, the finance to deposit ratio dropped to around 82 percent and 69% in FY06 and FY07 from 92 percent in FY05. Earnings assets have shown an increase over the years showing strong liquidity position of the bank. The assets seem to experience some shift away from financing to the investments and other assets since the share of these two has increased over the year. This is line with overall banking industry where the assets mix has shifted more towards investments than advances.
On evaluating the performance of Meezan's earning assets we see that yield (Yield as calculated by Net spread income/earning assets) has shown on overall rising trend till FY07. Moreover, 'Cost of Funding Earning Assets' has also followed the same trend. A slight increase in 'cost of assets' coupled with returning higher profits is a good sign for any business and signifies its potential to produce/earn in future.
On the performance side, markup income experienced a strong growth of 71 percent during FY07 Net markup income after provisioning also witnessed healthy growth of 51 percent. Moreover, as the yield is still higher then costs of funding, we hope that Meezan continues future expansion through low cost funding sources.
With growing operations and fast expanding financing portfolio, the occurrence of non-performing loans is inevitable. The NPLs of the bank had been on the rise till FY07. The NPLs increased by 122.7% in 2006 to become Rs. 408 million. The rise in NPLs is because of the increase in defaults and substandard loans. As a proportion of finances (2006: Rs. 27 billion) this amount is significant. NPLs form 1.51% of the finances in 2006 but declined to 1.1% in FY07. The industry trend has been reversed in 2007 where NPLs have risen. Meezan's ratios have on the other hand shown improvement in FY07.
These ratios are still very low and do not carry significant threat to the financial soundness of Meezan. However, it will have to exercise extra safety measures for the financing portfolio, keeping in view the fact that Shariah-based modes of financing require that any late payment fee recovered from clients could only be used for charitable purposes. The bank needs to monitor defaults and must lend cautiously after having studied the credit worthiness of the borrower, as SBP is going to implement full provisioning against non-performing loans from 31st December 2007.
The peculiar trends in the funding and financing structures also had their impact on the key debt management indicators. We can see that the bank has increased its dependence on debt, as a source of finance. Debt management figures reveal that the bank has 84% of its assets financed by debt in 2003. However it has reached a very high level now at 91% and there is always a potential to fall back from heights. Furthermore, debt to equity ratio also suggests the same trend where the ratio increased to around 10% in FY07. Rising deposit times capital is indicative of customers' continued growing trust in the Islamic banking products as they are becoming more eager to engage in long-term relationship with Islamic banks.
The solvency situation for the industry as a whole has shown marked improvement in recent years caused by increasing profitability and fresh inflows of capital. In Meezan's case, here was a decline in the solvency position over the years as a result of high growth in deposits. Therefore, the earning assets as a percentage of deposits declined in FY07.
Since the capital of the Islamic banking system grew at a lower rate as compared to the assets growth, the capital to total assets ratio decreased to 9.2 percent from 16 percent. Yet, the ratio is comfortably more than double the generally accepted benchmark of 5 percent. Moreover, the capital adequacy ratio of the bank at 11.63% percent is also well above the regulatory benchmark of 8 percent. Equity/deposits also showed a falling trend due to aforementioned reasons.
The bank has been following a conservative dividends policy as the last cash dividend came in 2003. The bank is more inclined on bonuses and rights, to increase its equity whereby conserving its profits for investment in expansion. From this, we hope that it will improve its debt management and solvency position in the coming years.
The price of Meezan Bank's share has been fluctuating between Rs. 13 and Rs. 38.50 from 2004 to December 2007. Since 2005 the share price has risen by 69% and has gone up to Rs. 38.50. As has been the case the bank's profitability has not been too high. But investors feel an upside in the share of the bank and with the expectation of Islamic banking occupying around 25% of the market share by 2010 there is bright possibility of growth in Meezan Bank. Also given the bank's policy of increased investments and expansion, the bank is likely to get more profitable in the coming years. The share operated at a P/E multiple of 15.2 in 2007 mainly because of high share price. MV was 2.0x the BV indicating a strong investor demand for the share.
The overall performance of the bank remained encouraging and the key indicators depicted healthy trends in FY06 and FY07, auguring well for the future growth prospects.
Future prospects:
The Islamic financial assets are expected to cross $1 trillion by 2010, as per the recent research report published by Morgan Stanley. The Islamic banking industry continues to grow in Pakistan and six full-fledged Islamic banks are now in operation. It is interesting to note that the conventional banks are increasingly realizing the huge potential market backed by the untapped and steadily growing appetite for Islamic banking products; hence the drive for entering this market is based on business considerations in addition to religious considerations. As the level of awareness and understanding of Islamic banking remains very low, this might pose a threat to the credibility of the full-fledged Islamic banks like Meezan. For this reason, there is a need for all banks to act in concert and help build awareness of Islamic banking throughout the country.
Islamic banks should come forward to serve the nation by providing the less privileged with the opportunity to meet their needs in the Shariah-compliant manner. The bank, which has firmly established its leadership position in the Islamic banking industry, should focus more on the development and offering of the financing products of social welfare such as education and micro finance.
However, the bank will have to manage its growing expenses is addition to following the stringent appraisal and monitoring standards. This along with the strengthening systems and building capacities of the human capital will add to the efficiencies of its system and thus proving it a comparable alternate financial system.
In light of the above scenario we can say that Meezan Bank is well poised to meet the challenges of the future and will continue to play its leadership role in the Islamic banking industry.



==========================================================================================================================
Meezan Bank's financials
==========================================================================================================================
ASSETS FY '03 FY '04 FY '05 FY '06 FY '07
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash and Balances with treasury banks 1,042,285 2,623,588 3,956,938 5,897,394 5,644,028
Balances with other banks 683,596 1,751,083 2,855,823 4,134,875 3,729,549
Lending to Financial Institutions 0 0 0 3,700,000 8,850,000
Investments 1,211,667 1,429,053 1,606,490 2,877,554 10,535,186
Financings 7,397,078 12,339,745 19,740,886 27,031,016 34,576,339
FIXED ASSETTS 689,226 1,349,184 305,585 531,262 1,032,963
Other Assets 78,537 204,737 2,210,100 2,266,522 2,810,494
TOTAL ASSETS 11,102,389 19,697,390 30,675,822 46,438,623 64,368,065
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIABILITIES FY '03 FY '04 FY '05 FY '06 FY '07
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bills Payable 169,062 196,145 260,732 563,228 1,192,160
Borrowings from Financial Institutions 988,964 2,862,139 2,981,714 4,285,212 2,415,606
Deposits and Other Acounts 7,756,862 13,769,807 22,769,262 34,449,441 54,582,353
sub-ordinated loans 0 0 0 0 -
Liabilities against assets subject 0 0 0 0 -
to financial lease
Deffered liabilities 9,236 286 170,274 398,304 430,377
Other Liabilities 429,790 770,631 1,469,258 1,979,079 2,851,407
TOTAL LIABILITIES 9,353,914 17,599,008 27,651,240 41,675,264 61,471,903
NET ASSETS 1,748,475 2,098,382 3,024,582 4,763,359 5,706,656
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REPRESENTED BY: FY '03 FY '04 FY '05 FY '06 FY '07
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Share Capital 1,064,045 1,346,017 2,036,582 3,779,897 3,779,897
Reserves 351,444 256,578 407,235 528,085 720,785
Unappropriated Profit 221,073 258,325 527,123 448,427 1,219,228
1,636,562 1,860,920 2,970,940 4,756,409 5,719,910
Advance against rights issue 192,312
Surpus on Revaluation of Assets 111,913 45,150 53,642 6,950 (13,254)
1,748,475 2,098,382 3,024,582 4,763,359 5,706,656
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INCOME STATEMENT FY '03 FY '04 FY '05 FY '06 FY '07
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Profit/ return earned on financings 375,567 534,400 1,459,229 2,704,280 4,573,752
, investments and placements
Return on deposits and other dues expensed 182,354 250,393 690,418 1,464,173 2,451,968
Net spread income 193,213 284,007 768,811 1,240,107 2,121,784
Provision against consumer loans
Provision against non-performing (17,769) 16,991 68,811 121,581 435,018
loans and advances - net
Provision / (reversal) for diminution 1,995 1,750 (29,831) 1,297 878
in value of investments - net
Bad debts written of directly 0 0 0 0 -
(15,774) 18,741 38,980 122,878 435,896
Net spread after provisioning 208,987 265,266 729,831 1,117,229 1,685,888
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NON MARK-UP / INTEREST INCOME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fee, commission and brokerage income 53,869 100,739 174,750 216,216 321,685
Dividend Income/ Gain on Sale of Investments 114,625 108,592 92,569 165,228 104,345
Gain on Sale of securites 05,339.00 81,223.00 209,402.00 116,993.00 533,093.00
Unrealized Gain / (loss) on revaluation of investments 0.00 42,081.00 57,792.00 (32,455.00) (31,453.00)
Income from dealing in foreign currencies 26,830 26,830 77,961 201,519 392,319
Other Income 8,262 5,628 9,677 23,060 27,904
Total non mark-up / return / interest income 308,925 365,093 622,151 690,561 1,347,893
517,912 630,359 1,351,982 1,807,790 3,033,781
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NON - MARKUP INTEREST EXPENSES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administrative expenses 255,449 409,296.00 718,384.00 1,022,991.00 1,755,761.00
Other Provisions / write offs/ (reversals) 0 0 0 0 5,948
Other Charges 20.00 185 482.00 4,776.00 2,884.00
Total Non markup Interest expenses 255,469 409,481 718,866 1,027,767 1,764,593
Extraordinary Items 0 0.00 0.00 0.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROFIT BEFORE TAXATION 262,443 220,878 633,116 780,023 1,269,188
Taxation - Current - for the year 5,731 5,470 4,671.00 8,314.00 271,452.00
for prior years 39,002.00 (60,572.00) -
Deferred 21,284 (8,950) 169,988.00 228,030.00 34,235.00
27,015 (3,480) 213,661 175,772 305,687
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROFIT AFTER TAXATION 235,428 224,358 419,455 604,251 963,501
Basic AND diluted Earnings per Share 1.67 1.37 1.46 1.88 2.55
Average price per share 17.9 16.40 24.8 38.55
Weighted Average Number of Shares 106,405 134,602 203,658 377,990 377,990
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIQUIDITY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earnings Assets to Assets 83.70% 100.78% 96.10% 97.89% 101.55%
Yield on earning assets 4.04% 3.67% 5.02% 6.72% 7.63%
Finance to deposits 95.36% 91.69% 87.80% 81.74% 69.20%
Cost of Funding earning assets 1.96% 1.74% 2.37% 3.48% 4.10%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOLVENCY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity to Assets 15.75% 12.49% 10.17% 10.10% 9.22%
Equity to Deposits 22.54% 17.87% 14.02% 13.61% 11.76%
Earning Assets to Deposits 1.20 1.15 1.09 1.08 1.07
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARNING
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return on Assets 2.12% 1.14% 1.37% 1.30% 1.43%
Return on Deposits 3.04% 1.63% 1.84% 1.75% 1.77%
Return on Equity 13.46% 10.69% 13.87% 12.69% 16.88%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asset Quality
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Provisions to Non-Performing Loans -0.29 0.28 0.38 0.30 1.15
Non-Performing loans to Finances 0.8 0.5 0.9 1.5 1.1
NPL 62,192.0 59,971.0 183,373.0 408,442.0 379,727.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARKET VALUE RATIO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average price per share 17.9 16.40 24.8 38.55
Price-Earnings ratio 13.07 11.23 13.19 15.12
Market-Book value ratio 1.15 1.10 1.97 2.55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEBT MANAGEMENT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Debt to Equity 5.35 7.01 8.83 9.69 9.85
Debt to Asset 84.3% 87.5% 89.8% 90.6% 90.8%
Deposits time Capital 4.44 5.60 7.13 8.23 8.50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIVIDEND PAYOUT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dividend per Share 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
==========================================================================================================================

COURTESY: Economics and Finance Department, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, prepared this analytical report for Business Recorder.
DISCLAIMER: No reliance should be placed on the [above information] by any one for making any financial, investment and business decision. The [above information] is general in nature and has not been prepared for any specific decision making process. [The newspaper] has not independently verified all of the [above information] and has relied on sources that have been deemed reliable in the past. Accordingly, the newspaper or any its staff or sources of information do not bear any liability or responsibility of any consequences for decisions or actions based on the [above information].
Copyright Business Recorder, 2008

Comments

Comments are closed.