MUSCAT: Shareholders of ahlibank at its annual general meeting approved a board recommendation to distribute cash dividend of 10 per cent for the year ended December 2015. The bank’s earnings per share (EPS) for 2015 was 19.5 baisas compared to 17.6 baisas in 2014.
ahlibank has achieved a net profit of OMR27.7 million in 2015 as compared to OMR25.1 million in 2014, registering a growth of 10.4 per cent. The bank’s customer deposits have grown by 20.9 per cent in line with the strategy to build a stable low cost deposit base.
Loan growth of 9.3 per cent has been established within a prudent risk management framework. The loan book continues to be of a very high quality as reflected in the NPL ratio of 1.07 per cent at the end of financial year 2015 (2014: 0.97 per cent). In 2015, with the launch of Sharia-compliant Al Hilal Islamic credit cards, ahlibank also became the first bank to offer Visa signature Islamic credit card in the Sultanate, based on the true principles of Sharia.
ahlibank held its annual general meeting on March 28 at the InterContinental Muscat, presided over chairman Hamdan Ali Nasser Al Hinai. The shareholders approved the board of directors report, the corporate governance report, auditor’s report and audited financial statements of the bank for the financial year ended December 2015.
The shareholders ratified the sitting fees paid to the board of directors and board sub-committees for the meetings held during the financial year 2015 and determined the sitting fees of the board of directors and board sub-committees for the financial year 2016.
The shareholders approved the board remuneration for the financial year 2015 as proposed by the board. The shareholders approved the re-composition of the Sharia Supervisory Board and ratified the payments of remuneration and sitting fees to the Sharia Supervisory Board for the financial year 2015 and also determined the sitting fee and remuneration for financial year 2016.
The directors also briefed the shareholders on the Sharia Supervisory Board report for the financial year 2015, the related party transactions entered into by the bank. Shareholders approved the appointment of external auditors and external Sharia auditors for the financial year 2016 and their fees.
The shareholders approved the board’s proposal to set aside OMR100,000 as donations for the financial year 2016. “ahlibank’s financial performance in 2015 has been good, and the bank has been able to maintain its impressive track record.
I would like to thank members of the board for their valuable direction that has guided the bank towards such success. I would also like to thank all my colleagues for their hard work and dedication that has helped the bank in achieving good financial results year on year,” said Lloyd Maddock, chief executive officer of ahlibank.
