Bank Alfalah posts Rs4.7b pre-tax profit

KARACHI: Bank Alfalah Limited has posted a profit before provision and taxation of Rs4.711 billion in 2009.

The Islamic banking business recorded an increase of 144 per cent in profit before tax to Rs701 million from Rs287 million in 2008.

This was announced at the 18th AGM (Annual General Meeting) of the bank held here on Wednesday.

Bank Alfalah’s deposit base grew by 7.99 per cent to Rs324.760 billion as compared to the previous year. Gross advances stood at Rs197.403 billion, directors at the AGM said.

Foreign trade figures stood at Rs197.304 billion for imports and Rs100.493 billion for exports as of December 31, 2009. Bank Alfalah opened 39 new branches in 2009 taking the total number of branches to 321, including international branches in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bahrain.

Sirajuddin Aziz, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bank Alfalah, said: “Our existence and survival as a bank is strongly linked with the future of Pakistan and we have great faith in this country.”

“We will continue to grow our operations, the branch network and the range of services and intend to continue investing in Pakistan that has enabled Bank Alfalah to get where it is right now,” he said. “Despite challenging times, Bank Alfalah does not believe in compromising on quality of human resources and customer services,” Aziz added. During 2010, the bank plans to open more branches including several Islamic banking branches at major locations across Pakistan.

The bank is also investing heavily in training and skill development of its staff and is upgrading its information technology, quality assurance and complaint management processes to provide better services to its customers.