A meeting of the Board of Directors of Sindh Bank Limited was held at the Bank's Head Office on August 22, in which the un-audited accounts for the half year ended June 30, 2014 were approved. The Bank maintained consistent growth in all the key financial areas during the half year ended June 30, 2014.
Since all the Sindh Bank branches are fully operational and penetrating in their respective business areas, total deposits increased by 24.9 percent to Rs 56.9 billion over the year end 2013, whereas number of accounts increased to 150,000 plus from 124,000 plus during the period under review. The Government of Sindh (GoS) deposits constitute 27 percent in the total deposit portfolio which reflects increasing general public's confidence in the Bank.
Advances portfolio increased by 46.9 percent to Rs 39 billion as on June 30, against Rs 26.6 billion as on December 31, 2013. The Bank's investment portfolio comprises mainly of Government Securities ie Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) and Treasury Bills. Pre-tax profit for the period stood at Rs 624.2 million as compared to Rs 504.6 million earned in the corresponding period of 2013, registering an increase of 23.70 percent.
JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Ltd (JCR-VIS) has maintained Sindh Bank's entity ratings at 'A-1+ (A One Plus)' for short-term and 'AA- (Double A minus)' for medium-to-long-term. Outlook on the assigned ratings has been improved from Stable to Positive. High level of Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Bank's growth plans and strong capitalisation over a foreseeable future were the major considerations for this revision.
Sindh Bank also commenced Islamic Banking (IB) business under the brand name "Sa'adat" and opened its first Stand Alone IB branch at Karachi on June 26. By December 2014 four more IB branches along with 21 conventional branches are planned to be opened in Pakistan's major commercial hubs. The Bank recorded 300 percent growth in disbursement of Agricultural loans during 2013-14 as compared to the corresponding period and even achieved SBP's revised target of Rs 1,500 million by June 30.-PR