Meezan Bank Limited, one of Pakistan’s leading Islamic banks, announced its financial results for the first nine months of the current fiscal year. The bank earned a net profit of Rs. 70.52 billion, which is 10% less than the Rs. 78.33 billion it made during the same period last year.
The main reasons for this decrease were lower returns on the bank’s investments and financing activities. Additionally, the bank had to set aside more money to cover potential loan losses, which reduced overall profits.
The earnings per share dropped to Rs. 38.59, meaning each shareholder earned less per share compared to last year. Despite the lower profits, the bank announced a dividend of Rs. 7 per share for its shareholders.
However, there was some good news. The bank’s foreign exchange income increased dramatically, almost nine times higher than before, reaching Rs. 5.99 billion. This shows the bank did well in currency exchange operations.
Other income also grew significantly by 47%, totaling Rs. 30.24 billion. This additional income helped balance out the reduced earnings from the bank’s main financing business.
The bank’s profit margin decreased slightly from 33.4% last year to 32.3% this year. While this shows a small decline in efficiency, Meezan Bank still maintains a healthy profit margin.
Overall, while Meezan Bank faced some challenges this year with lower financing returns and increased provisions, it managed to find other sources of income to maintain profitability and continue rewarding its shareholders.
