Addressing a gathering of corporate and business leaders and elite of the city at the formal launch ceremony of Samba Bank Limited (SBL), Sajjad Razvi, senior Samba executive and Chairman of the Board of Samba Bank Limited, said "SBL is a majority owned subsidiary of Samba Financial Group which invested $100 million in the bank in 2007.
With a balance sheet size of approximately $50 billion, shareholder's equity of $4.7 billion, and net profitability consistently exceeding $1.5 billion year-on-year, Samba is a leading financial institution in the Middle East. Samba has a rating of A+ by S&P and is ranked 157 amongst the world's 1000 largest banks.
Samba views Pakistan as a strategically important market for growth and hence made its first acquisition outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Pakistan. Samba has a long term view on Pakistan and is fully committed to building its local franchise." Elaborating on the bank's vision, Tawfiq A. Husain, President and CEO of Samba Bank Limited said, "Our aspiration is to make SBL the most admired bank in Pakistan.
SBL's value proposition is supported by a very strong parent and a powerful brand. We will look to expand our footprint by opening new state-of-the-art branches while at the same time promoting Alternative Distribution Channels (ATMs, Samba Phone, Samba Online, etc). We are facilitating investment flows between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, are uniquely placed to meet the financial needs of Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs) and pilgrims going to perform Umrah and Haj, and will develop innovative products to meet these needs."
Samba has continued to lead the way in offering popular and innovative financial solutions, products and services across all business lines, in keeping with its pledge to deliver best-in-class value propositions. These achievements have been crowned by Samba receiving international, regional, and national recognition from well-respected organisations, trade publications, and rating institutions which have given Samba a number of prestigious accolades for many years including 2006/7 and 2008.-PR