March 23, 2006	Thursday	Safar 22, 1427

LAHORE, March 22: The board of directors of Allied Bank Limited (ABL) has approved the accounts for the year 2005 in their meeting. The bank has posted historic profit after tax of Rs3 billion, increased by 16 times from the previous year’s profit. The equity increased by 27 per cent to Rs13 billion.

According to a press release the operating profit was Rs5.5 billion, reflecting a growth of 164 per cent over last year. Earning per share improved to Rs6.89 from Rs0.81 of last year. The board approved a cash dividend of Rs2.5 per share.

The deposits of the bank grew by 28 per cent to Rs162 billion, while the loan book increased to Rs120 billion by posting a growth of 71 per cent. The NPL portfolio decreased by 18.2 per cent and the net NPLs to net loans dropped from 8.3 per cent to 3.6 per cent. The income to cost ratio improved to 2.3:1 from 1.6:1 last year.