Bank Alfalah profit soars to Rs4.3bn

KARACHI: Bank Alfalah posted a profit-after-tax of Rs4.353 billion for the first half of 2016, registering an increase of 17.5 per cent over the same period last year, after accounting for the impact of super tax during the second quarter.

Earnings per share improved to Rs2.73 at the end of the first half year of 2016 as compared to Rs2.33 in June 2015.—Staff Reporter

Australian funded initiative launched

LAHORE: The Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Margaret Adamson, on Thursday inaugurated a dedicated footwear production line for women at Footlib, a local manufacturer in Lahore.

The initiative, funded by the Australian government through its Market Development Facility (MDF), aims to increase women’s workforce participation and support an internationally competitive footwear sector in Pakistan.—Staff Reporter

HBL celebrates its 75th anniversary

KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited on Thursday launched its 75th anniversary celebrations in a special ceremony held at the HBL Plaza.

The event was attended by HBL Chairman Sultan Ali Allana along with the bank’s senior management. HBL was the first commercial bank to be established for the Muslims of the Indo-Pak subcontinent in 1941, and today it is the largest bank in the country with over 1,700 branches, 1,900 ATMs, and a customer base exceeding 8. 5 million.

It has presence in over 25 countries across four continents.

WhatsApp to share user data with Facebook

WASHINGTON: Mobile messaging service WhatsApp on Thursday announced it would begin sharing subscriber data with parent Facebook, giving advertisers better access to information on WhatsApp’s one billion-strong user base.

The company said the change would allow Facebook to target advertising at WhatsApp users who are also on the social media platform, and help WhatsApp fight spam on its service.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2016