Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, has announced that its retail banking subsidiary in Pakistan, Faysal Bank Limited (FBL), has maintained growth momentum and improved profitability.

The announcement, by Ithmaar Bank chief executive officer and FBL vice chairman, Ahmed Abdul Rahim, follows the review and approval by the FBL Board of Directors of the financial results for the half year ended June 30.

FBL has a network of 316 branches, is listed on the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges, and is mainly engaged in corporate, commercial and consumer banking activities. Ithmaar Bank owns 66.57 percent of FBL.

FBL achieved a healthy profit, after tax, of $27 million during the first half of 2016, registering a 10 percent increase over the profit reported for the corresponding period of 2015 despite the imposition of the Super Tax by the Government of Pakistan which amounted to $3.3 million, said Abdul Rahim.

“FBL’s balance sheet has also grown significantly with total assets increasing by six percent to $4.4 billion (PKR 455 billion) as at June 30, 2016, compared to $4.1 billion (PKR 430 billion) as at December 31, 2015,” said Abdul Rahim.  

FBL plans to open 75 new Islamic branches in 2016, of which 34 branches have already been opened so far. The Bank is also planning to become one of the top tier banks in Pakistan in the coming years through further increasing its branch network and enhancing its delivery channels.  – TradeArabia News Service