Amana Bank records 29 per cent growth in Q2 PAT
View(s):Amana Bank says it has achieved a 29 per cent YoY growth in Profit After Tax (PAT) for Q2-2019/20 to close the quarter with a bottom-line of Rs.162.2 million compared to Rs.125.5 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2018.
Despite the higher tax regime applicable to the banking industry which accounted for 60 per cent of the bank’s operating profits, PAT for the first half of 2019 reached Rs.288.8 million, on par with the 2018 H1 PAT of Rs.288.3 million, the bank said in a media release.
Profit Before Tax grew by 33 per cent YoY to reach Rs.231.8 million from Rs 174.3 million recorded in Q2 of 2018. This bottom-line achievement is owing to the bank’s continued growth in its core banking activities, where Financing Income for Q2 recorded a growth of 19 per cent YoY to reach Rs.1.9 billion, which resulted in a H1 growth of 20 per cent YoY to reach Rs.3.8 billion.
Operating Profit before VAT, NBT and Debt Repayment Levy for the same periods grew by 37 per cent in Q2 and 17 per cent in H1 to reach Rs.408.4 million and Rs.723.8 million, respectively.
The bank said it was successful in overcoming the challenging market conditions by growing its customer deposits for the first six months by 12 per cent to close at Rs.69 billion whilst the advances portfolio grew by 7 per cent during the same period to close at Rs.56.5 billion.
Commenting on its first-half performance, the bank CEO Mohamed Azmeer said: “Despite challenging market conditions that tested the resilience of business across all sectors and industries, I am pleased to witness the profit momentum being sustained. Such resilience and profit momentum will enable us to duly reward all our stakeholders consistently, to whom we are extremely thankful.”