This pre-tax profit is higher by 11 percent as compared to the last year. Major contributory to the healthy profit was the net mark-up/interest income after provisions, which increased by 11 percent over last year's to Rs 7.5 billion (2002: Rs 5.2 billion) mainly due to a volume increase in advances.
Fee income increased by 13 percent as compared to last year to Rs 1.9 billion (2002: Rs 1.5 billion) mainly due to increased focus on trade business during the year.
Income from dealing in foreign currencies also increased sharply by 53 percent and stood at Rs 0.7 billion due to weakening of the rupee, which created opportunities for effective arbitrage.
The net profit grew by 36 percent over last year to Rs 3.8 billion (2002: Rs 1.5 billion) translating into an EPS of Rs 7.38 per share (2002: Rs 0.62 per share) and a return on equity of 26 percent (2002: 17 percent).
Deposits grew by 25 percent in comparison with the last year and stood at Rs 237 billion (2002: Rs 162.7 billion).
"Our dedicated field staff once again demonstrated their ability to exceed expectations," said the management to the board.
The bank achieved a 51 percent growth in advances to Rs 150 billion as compared to last year, which is one of the highest growth rates amongst the large network banks. The advances have doubled since the year of privatisation. Corporate advances were to the tune of Rs 88 billion and commercial-consumer accounted for Rs 47 billion.
Trade volumes rose sharply by 31 percent to Rs 189.5 billion, whereas home remittances also increased by 12 percent to Rs 22.7 billion as compared to last year.
The improved performance of the bank resulted in upgrading of the bank's long-term credit rating to "A+" from "A" and short-term rating to "A-1+" from "A-1" by the JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company. This has assisted in increasing the depositor's confidence in the bank.
With the increasing demand of credit in the economy and the expansion of the consumer business, there has been an increasing pressure on the bank's capital.
To mitigate this, the bank effectively raised supplementary capital through the issuance of listed, rated, unsecured and subordinated Term Finance Certificates amounting to Rs 4 billion split between two issues.
The first issue was closed successfully in August 2004, whereas the second issue will be offered to the general public in February 2005. The capital adequacy ratio on a consolidated basis stood at 12.94 percent for December 2004.
2004 has been a year of major initiatives for the bank. Four new consumer loan products were launched - UBL Drive, UBL Cashline, UBL Address and UBL Business Line.
UBL Address and UBL Drive captured bulk of the market share within a first few months of their launch and are market leaders in their segments.
UBL's visa credit card is expected to be launched in February 2005. It is the first EMV-chip enabled credit card in South Asia.
The year 2004 also saw the launching of UBL Wallet ATM card and UBL Business Partner - current account.
In addition, the bank introduced e-banking services for its customers through the launch of 'You First Net Banking'.
Going forward, the UBL aims to broaden its network through ATMs and e-banking products. Following the establishment of a 24x7 call center, the UBL plans to supplement its service and focus on quality improvement.
The bank's investment in human resource, premises and technology reflects its commitment to enhance customer satisfaction through world-class products and services.