Amãna Bank records commendable Q3

Net Financing Income grows by 40%; Fitch affirms BB (Stable) rating

Amãna Bank said yesterday it had improved profit momentum in Q3 by accumulating a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 62.9 million. 

As a result of this addition, the bank’s nine-month PBT reached Rs. 140.9 million, to achieve a 16.2% year-on-year growth. The bank’s Profit After Tax (PAT), which surpassed the Rs. 100 million mark at the end of nine months to read Rs. 101.4 million, also established a similar growth trajectory. Having achieved a PAT of Rs. 56.1 million in the first half of the year, the bank went on to record a PAT of Rs. 45.3 million in Q3 alone. 

With a strategic focus on retail and SME financing, the bank’s top line continued its steady performance by recording a year-on-year growth of 39.2% in Financing Income to reach Rs. 2.9 billion in the first nine months while Net Financing Income during the same period grew by 29.5% to Rs. 1.4 billion.  

Net Financing Income for Q3 grew by an impressive 40.6% to Rs. 533.4 million from Rs. 379.4 million achieved in Q3 2015. The bank also gained from Net Fee and Commission Income amounting to Rs. 144.2 million for the nine months, reflecting a growth of 20.7% compared to the corresponding period in 2015. Demonstrating a year-on-year growth of 19.9%, the bank recorded a Net Operating Income of Rs. 1.7 billion for the nine months ending 30 September 2016. The bank went on to record Rs. 266.7 million as Operating Profit Before Value Added Tax on Financial Services and Nation Building Tax, which was a growth of 18.4% on a year-on-year basis.

The bank’s total assets grew year to date by 10.8% to close at Rs. 53.0 billion while Customer Deposits and Customer Advances grew by 17.5% and 14.1% to read Rs. 45.3 billion and Rs. 37.7 billion respectively. The bank had been successful in maintaining an industry low Gross Non Performing Advances Ratio of 0.93%.

Commenting on the bank’s financial performance, Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Azmeer said: “After having been affirmed a National Long Term Rating of BB with a stable outlook by Fitch Ratings Lanka, I am pleased about how the third quarter turned out for the bank despite challenging market and economic conditions. Our growth for the quarter was once again fuelled by core banking activities, especially from the SME banking sector, a key strategic focus area of the bank. I am thankful to the bank’s customer base for continuing to place its trust and confidence in our unique banking model as well as to our team for their hard work and commitment. I am confident that this positive trend in performance will continue as we also plan to expand our reach with the addition of new branches in Colombo during the last quarter of 2016.” 

Amãna Bank is the first Licensed Commercial Bank in Sri Lanka to operate in complete harmony with the non-interest based Islamic banking model and is listed on the Diri Savi Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange. 

The bank was recognised as the Best ‘Up-and-Comer’ Islamic Bank of the World by Global Finance Magazine at the 18th Annual World’s Best Banks Award ceremony held in Washington DC, US. The bank was also bestowed with the coveted title ‘Islamic Finance Entity of the Year 2016’ at the inaugural Islamic Finance Forum of South Asia Awards ceremony. 

Powered by the stability and support of its strategic shareholders including Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, AB Bank in Bangladesh and The Islamic Development Bank based in Saudi Arabia, Amãna Bank is making strong inroads within the Sri Lankan banking industry and is focused on capitalising the growing market potential for its unique banking model across the country.