Bank Alfalah’s profit rises to Rs7.9bn

KARACHI: Bank Alfalah posted a net profit of Rs7.9 billion for 2016, up 5 per cent from a year ago, a press release said on Friday.

The bank did not announce a cash dividend. Earnings per share were reported at Rs4.96 against Rs4.73 last year.

The bank’s total revenue remained Rs37.6bn against Rs37.5bn recorded in 2015. Growth of non-markup expenses remained restricted to 3.7pc.

The bank’s total assets at the end of 2016 stood at Rs917bn against Rs903bn a year ago.

Indian behind ‘cheapest smartphone’ held

NEW DELHI: The former managing director of a little-known Indian company that claimed to be selling the world’s cheapest smartphone has been arrested for fraud, police said Friday.

Mohit Goel, boss of the domestic handset maker Ringing Bells, was taken into custody in Ghaziabad late Thursday after a distributor complained it had not received phones worth 1.6 million rupees (around $24,000). Ayam Enterprises said it had paid 3 million rupees ($45,000) after Goel persuaded it to distribute the Freedom 251 smartphone in November 2015 but only received 1.4 million rupees’ worth.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2017