ISLAMABAD, June 28: Saudi Pak Commercial Bank Limited has decided to increase the paid-up capital of the bank through the issuance of right shares.

According to a statement, the board of directors of the bank in its meeting here on Saturday approved the right issue in the proportion of one share against the existing holding of every two shares. After the right issue, the paid-up capital of the bank will increase from Rs1,500 million to Rs2,250 million.

The board noted with satisfaction that the bank had been successful in achieving the operational turnaround within a short span of time, since its acquisition in September 2001.

The deposit of Saudi Pak Commercial Bank increased by 421 per cent from Rs3.277 billion as on September 19, 2001, to Rs17.063 billion on May 31, 2003. The advances of the bank also increased by 170 per cent from Rs4.536 billion to Rs.12,238 billion.

During the year 2002, the total business volume handled by the bank aggregated to Rs13.914 billion, while during the first five months of the current financial year ended May 31, 2003, the amount of foreign trade business was Rs8.516 billion. The key financial indicators of the bank have shown tremendous improvement over the period.

The bank has expanded its network from 20 branches to 28 during 2002. The bank is moving swiftly towards implementation of a state-of-the-art technological base that will enable it to provide real time online banking services to its customers in line with the market needs.

The implementation of the decision to enhance the capital base will improve not only the equity base of the bank, but will also be instrumental in improving the capital adequacy and credit rating of the bank.