Agrani Bank holds 12th AGM

The 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Agrani Bank Limited was held on Thursday in the Board Room of Head Office of the bank, said a statement.
Dr. Zaid Bakht, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, presided over the meeting. Quamrun Naher Siddiqua, Joint Secretary, Financial Institution Division of Ministry of Finance was present as the representative of the Government of Bangladesh. Mohammad Shams-Ul Islam, Managing Director and CEO and Directors of the Bank and other guests were also present in the meeting.
The Chairman welcomed the guests present in the AGM. The Audited Financial Statements of the Bank for the year ended December 31, 2018 and appointment of A Qasem & Co and Masih Muhith Haque & Co. Chartered Accountants firms as auditors of the Bank for 2019 were approved in the meeting. The Managing Director and CEO discussed the performance of 2018 of the Bank.
Total assets of the Bank as at 31 December 2018 stood at Tk. 78,915 crore compared to Tk. 67,392 crore of 2017 registering a growth by Tk. 11,523 or 17 per cent. Loans and Advances of the Bank stood at Tk. 39,575 crore at the end of 2018, from Tk. 31,912 crore in 2017. The deposits grew upto Tk. 62,193 crore in 2018 from Taka 53,035 crore of 2017 showing a progress of Tk. 9,158 crore or 17 per cent growth. The Bank earned whopping operating profit Tk. 832 crore with a growth of 2.36 per cent over the preceding year. Net interest income also rose 105 per cent to Tk. 892 crore from the previous year.
ABL has been able to keep the first position unchanged in the in the year 2018 to earn foreign remittance among the State-owned Commercial Banks (SCBs). ABL has earned USD 1,510.42 million foreign remittances, the highest among SCBs and the second highest among all banks in Bangladesh. Total recovery of classified loan was Tk. 1,058 crore including cash recovery of Tk. 319 crore. The Bank has been able to maintain 10.09 per cent as capital against the minimum requirement of 10 per cent of total risk weighted assets as per requirement of Basel-III Accord. ABL has created a comprehensive vision for the development of small and medium industries in 2018 as the development partner of the government. Until December 31, 2018 Tk.7,318 crore was distributed in the SME sector. According to Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with Bangladesh Bank in 2018, SME target was fixed at Tk.3,879 crore against which Tk.4,303 crore has been distributed in this sector and 111 per cent of the distribution target was achieved, the highest among the SCBs.
The Joint Secretary praised the Agrani Bank Management and the Board of Directors for their continuous and prudent support and effort for the betterment of the Bank in the coming days.