Silkbank earns Rs499m operating profit

KARACHI: Silkbank Ltd swung to profit in 2014 posting an operating profit of Rs499 million during the year compared to an operating loss of Rs894.6m in 2013, it announced on Wednesday.

Its total earnings increased by 49pc over last year, with net mark-up income higher by 60pc year-on-year, a press release said.

The bank’s administrative expenses rose by 6.9pc whereas non-performing loans portfolio reduced by Rs1.6 billion.

Silkbank’s CASA deposits rose to 57.4pc from 54.9pc, and balance sheet spread improved to 3.42pc from 2.24pc.

Saudi telecom suspended over ‘loss’

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s stock market regulator on Wednesday suspended trading in one of the country’s major telecommunication firms, Etihad Etisalat, after the company reported losses of $243 million last year.

The firm, known as Mobily, is a unit of United Arab Emirates giant Etisalat. The suspension will run “until Mobily discusses the reasons that led to a net loss amounting to 913m riyals”, after having earlier reported a preliminary net profit of 220m riyals for the 12 months to Dec 31, the Capital Market Authority said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Etihad Etisalat, meanwhile, announced that its chief executive officer, Khalid Omar al-Kaf, had been removed, Bloomberg News reported.

He had been suspended since November after the discovery of accounting errors.

Published in Dawn February 26th , 2015

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