Half year ended on 30th June 2023: Soneri Bank’s PBT soars to historic high

KARACHI: The Board of Directors of Soneri Bank Limited, in their 199th meeting held in Karachi on 16th August 2023, approved the Bank’s condensed interim financial statements for the half year ended 30 June 2023.

The Bank’s profit before tax (PBT) grew impressively to a historic high of Rs 5,207 million for the half year ended 30 June 2023 as against Rs 1,864 million earned for the period ended 30 June 2022, while profit after tax (PAT) for the current period surged to Rs 2,527 million as against Rs 545 million for the comparative period last year.

In terms of PAT and earnings per share (EPS), this translates to an impressive growth of 363.93 percent year on year, with the Bank’s EPS reported at Rs. 2.2918 per share for the period ended 30 June 2023, as compared to Re. 0.4940 earned for the comparative period last year.

The Bank’s Net Interest Income (NII) grew substantially by 94.71 percent to Rs 10,124 million for the current period, as against Rs 5,200 million reported for the same period last year, at the back of significantly improved spreads and prudent asset and liability management.

Non markup income (NMI) for the period also registered a healthy growth of 51.68 percent, with NMI reported at Rs 2,888 million as against Rs 1,904 million for the comparative prior period.

Non-markup expenses were reported at Rs 7,057 million for the current period as against Rs 5,733 million reported for the comparative prior period. Growth in expenses was kept restricted at 23.11 percent as compared to the prior period; which resulted from strict compliance of cost rationalization measures amidst unprecedented inflation levels. Moving ahead, the Bank shall continue its focus on monitoring key cost control initiatives.

SNBL’s Deposits registered an impressive increase of 15.75 percent when compared to the year-end 2022, growing to Rs 474,143 million at 30 June 2023, outpacing average industry growth levels. CASA mix improved to 79.43 percent at 30 June 2023 as against 79.19 percent at 31 December 2022.

More importantly, the Bank’s CA mix improved to 34.15 percent in June 2023 as against 32.73 percent at December 2022, with Current Accounts at a level of Rs 161,928 million at 30 June 2023 as against Rs. 134,080 million at the year end.

The Bank’s net advances portfolio stood at Rs 185,908 million as at 30 June 2023, 10.81 percent lower than the year end 2022 level. However, net investments witnessed a volumetric increase of Rs 29,024 million or 11.25 percent from the year-end balance of Rs 258,007 million, ending at Rs 287,031 million as at 30 June 2023.

The Board of Directors appreciated the efforts of the management in meeting targeted Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) amidst challenging times. The Bank remains focused on maximizing shareholder value through our customer focused business strategy aimed at serving the needs of our customers across all business segments.