Islamabad March 4 2022: Allied Bank Limited (ABL) has always strived to be ahead in digital innovation by delivering a seamless banking experience, as per Banks filling at exchange.
Although the transition is dependent on development of digital ecosystem, the brick and mortar-based network expansion is also unavoidable. Therefore, Bank has adopted a hybrid growth strategy comprising of digital innovation as well as optimized expansion in branch banking operations. Branch network with addition of 27 branches during the year remained at 1,429 branches including 1,303 conventional branches, 117 Islamic branches, 7 digital branches and 02 overseas branches. These include 110 Islamic banking Windows in conventional branches. Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) network augmented to 1,558 with 1,269 on-site ATMs, 284 off-site ATMs and 05 Mobile Banking Units (MBU).
On account of the Bank’s customer centric product offerings, more than 1 million accounts were opened and 900,000+ debit cards were issued during the year 2021 thereby increasing cards in circulation by 17 percent.
Contrary to significant rise in the risk factors amid tough operating environment, Allied Bank Limited (ABL) registered a contraction of 4 percent in its non-performing loans.
Moreover, Bank’s infection and coverage ratios were registered at 2.04 percent and 94.5 percent respectively, ranked amongst one of the best in the industry. No forced sale value (FSV) benefit was availed while determining the provision against non-performing Advances, despite of being allowed under the guidelines of the SBP.
Proactive evaluation of economic scenario led to the prudent management of investment portfolio and duration optimization. Net investments increased by 28 percent to reach PKR 1,064,495 million as on December 31, 2021 as against PKR 829,621 million as on December 31, 2020.
Uncertain interest rate scenario leading to repricing lags between earning assets and liabilities, emphasized the need to accumulate zero and low-cost deposits. Bank maintained its strategic focus, leading to a significant growth of 24 percent in current deposits.
Total deposits, on the other hand, were recorded at PKR 1,413,295 million as on December 31, 2021, showing growth of 16 percent over last year.
Asset base of Bank reflected a strong growth of 26 percent as compared to 19 percent growth in Industry assets footing. Total assets were marked at PKR 2,010,156 million as on December 31, 2021.
Net assets of Bank stood at PKR 127,245 million as on December 31, 2021. Return on Assets and Return on Equity were recorded at 1.0 percent and 16.5 percent respectively during year ended December 31, 2021. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stayed resilient at 22.32 percent against a statutory requirement of 11.5 percent; Indicative of robust Capital positioning of Bank.
Bank posted a healthy growth of 25 percent in fee-based income during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to 7 percent growth for the year ended December 31, 2020, this was achieved through improved and upgraded digital banking services along with diversification of revenue streams through persistent enrichment of service suite and strategic business arrangements.
Active debit card campaign and revision in card renewal fee led to a strong growth of 34 percent in Card related fees. Branch banking customer fees also registered growth of 16 percent during the year ended December 31, 2021.
Comparatively favorable swap curves led to an increase of 19 percent in foreign exchange income during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to 16 percent decline during the corresponding year.
Total non-markup income exhibited a robust growth of 27 percent to record at PKR15,938 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 as against PKR 12,542 million during the year ended December 31, 2020.
On the other hand, total non-markup expense increased by 11 percent to record at PKR 33,946 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. This increase is due to persistently high average inflation during the first half of FY 2022, touching 9.8 percent in December 2021 as against 8.6 percent during the last year. Moreover, Bank’s increased spending towards technological transformation and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) measures amid Covid-19 also contributed towards increased non-interest expense.
