Amana Bank concluded 2021 on a high note, crossing the Rs. 1 billion milestone in Profit Before Tax (PBT).
Amana Bank posted a growth of 42% in PBT to reach Rs. 1.08 billion compared to Rs. 761.4 million recorded a year ago.
Profit After Tax for the same period reflected an impressive YoY growth of 78% to close at Rs. 824.7 million in comparison to Rs. 463.7 million recorded in 2020. This translates to an Earnings Per Share of 31 cents in comparison to 17 cents in 2020.
Net Financing Income reached Rs. 4.26 billion from Rs. 3.45 billion in 2020, reflecting a YoY growth of 23% which was supported by maintaining a healthy financing margin of 3.8% through low cost deposits.
The Bank achieved a 13% YoY growth in Total Operating Income to reach Rs. 4.80 billion, while Net Operating Income after accounting for adequate impairment, grew by 8% to Rs. 4.01 billion.
The Bank maintained operating expenses at 2020 levels through active focus on cost containment, resulting in the Bank posting a noteworthy growth of 25% in Operating Profit before VAT on Financial Services to reach Rs. 1.44 billion compared to Rs. 1.15 billion achieved a year back. The Bank’s aggregate tax contribution of Rs. 620 million accounted for 42% of the Bank’s operating profit before all taxes.
The consistent profit momentum over the years paved the way for the Bank to reward its shareholders for the fourth consecutive year with the issuance of a scrip dividend valued at 10 cents per share, resulting in a total pay-out of Rs. 260.1 million and being 30% higher than the dividends paid in 2020. Dividends were paid in scrip form to ensure compliance with regulatory guidelines.
In 2021, the Bank recorded double digit growth in deposit and advance portfolios. Outperforming the banking industry in average credit growth, the Bank grew its Customer Advances by 21%, to close the year on Rs. 75.82 billion from Rs. 62.57 billion in 2020. Customer deposits grew by 15%, to complete another successful year at Rs. 96.16 billion from Rs. 83.55 billion in 2020. The growth in customer deposits was enabled through a stable mix of funds as Current Accounts and Savings Accounts (CASA) continued its upward momentum with the ratio improving to 46%.
Timely customer engagement resulted in containing non-performing advances (NPA) well below the industry averages with Net NPA and Gross NPA ratios of 0.5% and 3.1%.
Having surpassed the Rs. 100 billion mark in total assets in 2020, the Bank went on to further enhance its total assets to close the year at Rs. 121.91 billion, which translates to a notable YoY increase of 22%. The Bank’s Total Capital Ratio stood at 15.7% as at December 31, 2021, well above the minimum regulatory requirement.