Sonali Bank posts record Tk 25bn operating profit

During the last calendar year, Sonali Bank posted an operating profit of Tk 25.03 billion, which is the highest in the bank's history.

"The bank maintained operating profit growth of over 19 percent over Tk 20.9 billion in 2021. Furthermore, the advance deposit ratio was 60 percent, almost 9 percent higher than the previous year,” Managing Director and CEO Afzal Karim briefed the media at the head office of the bank in the city on Sunday.

Despite the global economic recession, Afzal Karim believes Sonali Bank's non-performing loans will soon decline, as the state-run bank has made significant progress on various indicators.

“We have the largest deposit as a single entity. Once this deposit transforms into investments, the bank will do well on all indicators,” he said.

Last year, Sonali Bank issued Tk 846 billion credit against a total deposit of Tk 1.42 trillion, including bills payable. The deposit in 2021 was Tk 1.35 trillion.

As many borrowers could not be traced and there was no collateral, the parliamentary committee on estimates expressed concern about Sonali Bank's credit management. They claimed that the bank's recovery rate from major defaulters was less than one percent.

Sonali Bank's chief executive ruled out the concern, saying that the state-run bank has made a healthy profit over the years by increasing performing loans.

According to Afzal, the capital shortfall will be recovered soon since performing loans are increasing.

"Our net interest margin has been positive. All our loans have performed well. Interest income has improved. Net interest income stood at 37.69 billion, approximately 11.22 percent higher than in 2021."

Sonali Bank's Managing Director Afzal told the media that his company continues to open 'letters of credit' with a minimum profit margin despite the country's economic development being shaken.

"We issued LCs worth Tk 410 billion for food, fertilizer, and petroleum imports. There was no loss to the bank.In general, government LCs are opened at nominal commission rates," he said.       

According to some media reports, Sonali Bank was unable to open LCs for the Rooppur nuclear project due to the dollar crunch. The chief executive denied the allegations, stating that there are no LCs pending for the Rooppur nuclear project.

Aside from the 1,229 branches across the country, Sonali Bank also operates in Kolkata and Siliguri.