Scams trigger fall in Sonali Bank\\\'s operating profits

FE Report | Published: January 31, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

The Sonali Bank is continuing to lose its operating profits owing to a number of scams.
The bank fetched only Tk 3.3 billion operating profit in 2013. The amount is Tk 7.73 billion less than that of the previous year.
The bank earned Tk 11 billion in 2012 and Tk 12.39 billion in 2011 as operating profits respectively.
All these statistics were revealed when the state-owned bank's annual financial statement was handed over to Finance Minister AMA Muhith by managing director of the bank Pradip Kumar Dutta when the latter met the minister at his office.
The bank also performed poorly in disbursing loans and advances and export and import businesses.
The bank disbursed Tk 343.19 billion loan and advances during the year. This is less than Tk 34.95 billion from the previous year. The Sonali Bank disbursed Tk 378.14 billion loan and advance in 2012 and Tk 345.99 billion in 2011.
The import business also was reduced significantly as it opened letters of credit worth Tk 195.89 billion in 2013 against Tk 287.28 billion.
The annual financial report showed that the bank improved its performance in areas of deposit mobilisation while the classified loans have decreased slightly.
The number of the bank's loss-incurring branches has been reduced significantly to 47 in 2013 from 53 in the previous year.
In 2013, the bank's classified loans (CL) decreased to Tk. 96.38 billion from Tk. 159.97 billion in the previous year.
The amount recovered against bad loans was also higher at Tk. 51.76 billion in 2013 compared to Tk. 8.46 billion in 2012.
However, the largest state-owned bank's performance in remittance mobilisation was also satisfactory. It received Tk 132.86 billion foreign remittance in 2013 against Tk 126.89 last year.
During the meeting, the bank's chief executive officer (CEO) claimed that the bank has performed well in many indicators during the year.
The bank had no shortage in CRR (Cash Reserve Requirement) and SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio), amortisation of foreign loans and capital adequacy as per the Bangladesh Bank guidelines.
The Finance Minister expressed his satisfaction over the performance the bank showed during the year. He said even after facing a serious challenge from the Hall-Mark scam, the bank is performing satisfactorily.
According to the report, the Sonali Bank's income from commissions fell due to less business from export-import trade. This led to a drop in non-interest incomes by Tk 4.65 billion in 2013 over the previous year.
The Sonali Bank had Tk 58.05 billion worth of deposits in 2012. It rose to Tk 66.44 billion at the end of 2013.
The CEO of the bank said the irregularities in its Dhaka's AD (authorised dealer) branches, which surfaced in 2012, led to a drop in credit disbursement.
Following the Hall-Mark scam, several banks stopped buying the Sonali Bank's guaranteed bond, the 'Inland Bill'.
Moreover, a lot of foreign banks refused to accept LCs issued by the Sonali Bank.