Short-Term: Meezan Bank’s credit rating upgraded

KARACHI: JCR-VIS Credit Rating Co Ltd (JCR-VIS) has maintained the medium to long term entity rating of Meezan Bank Limited (MBL) at ‘AA-’ (Double A Minus) with stable outlook. The short term rating of MBL has been upgraded from ‘A-1’ (A-One) to ‘A-1+’ (A-One Plus). MBL continues to enjoy the highest market share in the Islamic Banking Industry (IBI) in terms of total deposits at 34% at end-CY10, a press release said on Thursday. Growth in deposits to Rs131 billion by 2010 coupled with higher proportion of low-cost retail deposits is indicative of strong franchise value.  Net financing portfolio of the bank features concentration as lending strategy of the bank is focused on building relationships with top-tier clients.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2011.