Corporate results: Silkbank posts Rs1.7b loss in 2015

Net interest income amounted to Rs2.3b, down 23.2% from previous year

KARACHI: Silkbank posted a net loss of Rs1.7 billion in 2015 as opposed to a net profit of Rs86.8 million in the preceding year.

A stock notice on Monday reported the basic loss per share of Silkbank at Rs0.58 as opposed to the earnings per share of Rs0.03. Net interest income after provisions of the bank amounted to Rs2.3 billion in 2015, down 23.2% from a year ago, hurting the bottom line.

In contrast, the year-on-year increase in non-interest income clocked up at 10.1%. Non-interest income equalled Rs1.9 billion, as net gains on the sale of securities rose 87.8% to Rs650.9 million over the year.



The board of directors did not announce a cash dividend or any other entitlement for the year. Heavier provisions against non-performing loans and advances hurt earnings of the bank last year. They amounted to Rs589.3 million, up a whopping 7.4 times from a year ago.

Silkbank struggled to meet capital adequacy requirements in the recent past. Following an underwriting arrangement with the Arif Habib Group as part of its capital-raising initiative through a Rs10-billion rights issue, the bank issued over 6.4 billion right shares at Rs1.56 per share.

In August 2015, Arif Habib Corporation acquired 28.23% shareholding in Silkbank. In addition, the Gourmet Group also acquired a 12% stake, thus becoming ‘sponsor shareholders’ of the bank.

At the end of last year, International Finance Corporation held 26.3% shares in Silkbank while Shaukat Tarin, Nomura European Investment and Bank Muscat held 22.5%, 13.3% and 11.8%, respectively.

As many as 427,000 shares of Silkbank were traded on the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday. Its share price recorded a drop of 2.6% to close at Rs1.50.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2016.

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