Bank Alfalah plans to open 24 more branches

Bank Alfalah Limited is looking for opportunities in Pakistan and plans to open 24 more branches in different cities of the country, said CEO of Bank Alfalah Limited Sirajuddin Aziz. The bank also intended to expand operations in Hong Kong and Beijing in addition to Bangladesh, Afghanistan, UAE & Bahrain. The bank has the distinction of having the second largest Islamic Banking operations is Pakistan, he added.
Aziz was addressing the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) members, investors, analysts and media representatives at the Corporate Briefing Programme of Bank Alfalah held at the LSE on Thursday. Aziz said that the Bank Alfalah is part of Abu Dhabi Group and it did not intend to leave Pakistan through divestment or sell-off. He added that Bank Alfalah/ Abu Dhabi Group would stay in Pakistan.
He also presented a detail overview of the Bank's operations and also shared future expansion plans of the bank. He said that the bank which started operation in 1997 with just 3 branches and virtually no banking infrastructure is today the 6th largest bank in Pakistan with 386 branches in 150 towns, over Rs 400 billion (4.8 billion US dollars) in assets and still growing rapidly. Aziz lauded the efforts of the current management and the directors of the LSE in introducing such programmes for increasing interaction between the investors and companies.
It may be noted that the Corporate Briefing Programme is an initiative of the LSE to increase market efficiency by removing information disparity in the marketplace. Market leaders are invited through this programme to present their company's performance and future plans to the investment public.
The presentation by Bank Alfalah was the fifth programme of this series that has received a lot of appreciation from the investment fraternity since its launch. Representatives of Engro Corporation, Nishat Group, Arif Habib Corporation and Treet Corporation have already organised their briefings under this programme.
He further said that Bank Alfalah provides a diverse range of local and global services that ranges from standard banking services to customise consumer and corporate products. Commenting on the perception of higher interest rate spreads being charged by the banks in Pakistan, he said this issue requires more subjective analysis because the old and established banks have low cost assets, new or young banks such as Bank Alfalah have a much higher costs of deposits.
Commenting on the latest released financial results of the Bank, he said that despite the economic situation and mounting pressure on the banking sector due to circular debt, NPLs and 2010 floods, performance of Bank Alfalah Limited showed a positive trend in 1st quarter of 2011.
Bank's total deposits have increased by 7.3% to Rs 339.5 billion as on March 31, 2011. Bank's annualised Return on Equity and Return on Assets has also improved to 18.45% and 0.91% as of March 31, 2011 compared to year end 2010 figures of 4.90% and 0.24%, respectively, he added. Aziz said the bank has been assigned a long-term rating of AA and a short term rating of A1+ by the PACRA signifying high credit quality and very low credit risk.
Bank Alfalah is part of Abu Dhabi Group, which has interest in the bank. The group, besides banking, has investments in various sectors including telecom, asset management and insurance. "The Lahore Stock Exchange has taken numerous initiatives in the past that have changed the way the capital market now operates in Pakistan. The Exchange has in the past focused on increasing investors' awareness and education level for the betterment of the market. Awareness road shows, seminars, briefings to economic journalists, Training Institute are some of the initiatives taken in the past in this regard. The Corporate Briefings Programme is another step in this direction which has been appreciated greatly by the investors," an official of LSE said.