Karachi, October 26: Meezan Bank Limited, the largest Islamic Bank in Pakistan has recorded 24% growth in its profit after tax which stood at Rs. 654 million for the nine months period ended September 30, 2009 compared to Rs. 527 million in the corresponding period last year.
 
This was announced after the 46th Meeting of the Board of Directors of Meezan Bank Limited held on 23 October 2009 in Dubai. The Board noted with satisfaction the excellent performance of the Bank despite difficult market conditions and approved the financial results of the Bank for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009.  The Chairman of the Board, H.E. Sheikh Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, presided over the meeting.
 
In the face of challenging economic circumstances, Meezan Bank has performed well during the period under review and total assets crossed the important milestone of Rs 100 billion. This growth has been spurred by the increase in the Bank’s branch network as a result of which deposits increased from Rs. 70.2 billion to Rs 87.7 billion, an increase of 33% on an annualized basis which is substantially higher than the annualized deposit growth of 12.65% recorded by the banking industry. This reflects the strong ‘brand equity’ of Meezan Bank.
 
The Bank has taken prudent steps to improve coverage of the non-performing portfolio thereby strengthening asset quality.”
 
Meezan Bank was incorporated in 1997 and has been one of the fastest growing financial institutions in Pakistan.  It has the privilege of having been awarded the first full fledged Islamic Banking license by the State Bank of Pakistan and has grown at an average annual rate of 60% per year over the last 5 years. It has the largest network of Islamic Banking branches in the country with 167 branches in 41 cities.