In a meeting of HabibMetro's Board of Directors held on Friday February 26, 2016 the financial results of the Bank for the year ended December 31, 2015 were approved. A 2.0 percent cash dividend of Rs 2 was declared for the year 2015, in addition to the interim cash dividend of 20 percent in 2015.
The Bank posted a profit-before tax of Rs 12.5 billion for the year 2015, registering a considerable year-on-year profitability boost of 71.5 percent. Total assets augmented by 23.3 percent and amounted to Rs 489.9 billion, while deposits exhibited an increase of 26 percent and exceeded Rs 400 billion. These results were achieved with effective execution of a broad based strategy targeting organic growth, mobilisation of low cost deposits, positive shift in asset profile, enhanced cost efficiency, and a focused approached towards NPL recoveries.
This strategy yielded a significant net margin year-on-year increase of 28.6 percent. With Return on Equity and Assets at 24.2 percent and 1.7 percent, Cost-to-Income ratio improved to 37.3 percent (from 44.4 percent in the previous year) and fee income increased noticeably by 17.8 percent. The noteworthy boost in profitability and performance led HabibMetro Bank to enhance its EPS by 55.5 percent to Rs 7.31.
The Bank's continued efforts targeted at NPL reduction drove a decrease of 3.9 percent year-on-year in the stock of NPLs, while coverage increased to 94.3 percent (from 82.7 percent in 2014). Capital Adequacy marked at a strengthened 18.4% demonstrating a financial robustness that was further validated by the Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) assigning premium credit ratings of AA+ and A1+ credit ratings to HabibMetro Bank for the 15th consecutive year, in 2015. HabibMetro Bank was also awarded as Asian Development Bank's 'Leading Partner in Pakistan' in 2015, in recognition of the Bank's role in facilitating regional trade.
HabibMetro continues to expand its footprint across Pakistan, with 36 branches being added to its network in 2015.
The Bank now operates with an expansive network of 276 branches in 77 cities across Pakistan, with an aim to further enhance its branch outreach in 2016. HabibMetro of Habib Bank AG Zurich, a multi-national banking group that enjoys 10 countries across 4 continents.-PR