First Security Islami Bank reveals true financial health

First Security Islami Bank has shocked its stakeholders by revealing a staggering loss of Tk 575.8 billion for the first nine months of 2025, significantly increasing the losses previously reported for the same period.

This revision follows a directive from Bangladesh Bank, which has raised concerns about the bank's financial stability.

Industry sources indicate that this could be the largest loss ever posted by a single bank in the country's history.

In a stock exchange filing on Sunday, First Security Islami Bank reported a loss per share of Tk 476.57 for January to September 2025. This contrasts sharply with the profit of Tk 0.48 per share reported during the same period last year.

The bank's latest financial results align with recent statements from the central bank regarding the net asset values of five troubled Islamic banks, including First Security Islami Bank, which are currently undergoing a merger process.

The disclosure also reveals that investors were left in the dark about the bank's true financial condition until the first half of 2025.

Earlier, the bank had reported a loss of Tk 37.5 billion for the first nine months of 2025. However, following a directive from Bangladesh Bank, the bank was compelled to disclose its true financial health.

According to the bank's disclosure, Bangladesh Bank, in a letter dated November 25, cancelled the deferral facility that allowed the bank to prepare financial statements without adjusting deficit provisions. The central bank instructed the bank to adjust the provisions when preparing financial statements from the third quarter (Q3) ended on September 30, 2025, and onward.

First Security Islami Bank, which was listed on the stock market as a profitable entity in 2008, had reported a profit of Tk 3.28 billion for the year 2023. However, the recent massive loss has sent its net asset value per share plunging into negative Tk 460.18.

In light of the bank's financial troubles, Bangladesh Bank last month declared the board of First Security Islami Bank ineffective and appointed an administrator ahead of its planned merger with four other struggling Islamic banks.

As part of the merger process, the central bank suspended trading of this bank's shares on the stock exchanges.

The merger involves five banks -- First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, Social Islami Bank, and EXIM Bank -- which are being consolidated into a new entity called 'Sammilito Islami Bank'.

The central bank dissolved the boards of these banks on November 5 and appointed administrators to oversee the merger, a move triggered by the banks' significant non-performing loans and allegations of mismanagement.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur recently said that a substantial portion of the capital from these troubled banks had been laundered abroad, leaving the central bank with no option but to merge them to protect the broader banking sector.

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