Excellent performance of the Meeezan Bank for the half-year ended June 30, 2007

Karachi , September 5 : The Board of Directors of Meezan Bank, headed by Chairman Sheikh Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, convened the Bank´s 36th meeting of the Board in Karachi earlier today. The Board reviewed the progress of the Bank and noted with satisfaction the excellent performance of the Bank for the half-year ended June 30, 2007. Profit before tax for the Bank was Rs. 601 million, an increase of 48% over the corresponding period last year while the consolidated profit before tax (profit after taking into account the results of subsidiary companies) increased from Rs. 512 million to Rs. 876 million. Strong growth was also recorded in all spheres of the Bank´s activities with deposits increasing by 72% from Rs. 26 billion to Rs. 45 billion. Financing and investment portfolio also increased by 27% and 67% respectively.
The Board was informed that Meezan Bank played a very active role in the Islamic Capital Market/Syndications. During the period the Meezan Bank has been mandated the role of Joint Lead Arranger and Shariah Structuring Advisor for Dawood Hercules Chemical Ltd. (Rs. 8.5 billion), Liberty Power Tech Ltd. (Rs. 9.6 billion), Engro Chemical Pakistan Limited (Rs. 3 billion), D.G. Khan Cement (Rs. 2 billion), Arzoo Textile (Rs. 800 million), Sui Southern Gas Co. (Rs. 2 billion) and Sitara Chemical (Rs. 625 million). In addition the Bank also acted as Co-Arranger for Attock Gen Ltd. (Rs. 7.8 billion), PIA (Rs. 2 billion) and WAPDA (Rs. 8 billion).
The Board was also given a detailed presentation on the future plans of the Bank and its branch network strategy. Meezan Bank currently operates through 74 branches in Pakistan offering complete on-line banking facilities to customers and hopes to add further 21 branches taking its total network to 95 branches by the end of the year. It has over 50 ATMs installed and also allows customers access to their accounts through the Internet. The Bank recently announced its decision to upgrade it software systems and have signed a contract with Temenos, an international software company, to implement its T-24 core banking application.