The Board also approved the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2004. The company's profit before-tax has been recorded at Rs 319 million. In an increasingly competitive environment, the strong positioning of the company and continued focus on core activities have helped achieve this result.
By December 2004, the company managed to build a well-diversified asset portfolio comprising loans and leases as well as corporate and government bonds. Stringent risk evaluation criteria facilitated timely and complete receipt of all dues with recovery rate of almost 100 percent during the year.
The Pak Oman is an active player in the Term Finance Certificates (TFCs) and the government bonds secondary market. The Pak Oman is the first NBFI/DFI to have a Reuters Dealing System, in order to ensure transparent and modem trading practices.
In 2003, it became the first non-bank finance institution to be appointed as primary dealer by the SBP; this status has been re-affirmed in 2004. Going forward, product development for customers hedging instruments will remain a key focus area.
Investment Banking also consolidated its position as one of the most active and aggressive outfits; during 2004, a number of large mandates were successfully closed. This was achieved on the basis of competitive pricing, efficient delivery, and a strong distribution base.
The Pak Oman seeks to position itself as a responsible corporate citizen, not only working towards its profitability, but for the betterment of the community it is based in.
In line with this philosophy, the Pak Oman has recently formed "Friends of Life" an internal committee contributing towards social and welfare development in addition to promoting environment-friendly practices within and outside the organisation.
The managing director updated the Board regarding the progress on launching of the Pak Oman Microfinance Bank with countrywide presence. The Board was also updated on Pak Oman's productive role in the development of Gwadar and the Textile City project. The Board reiterated its commitment towards playing its due role towards reduction in poverty and development of coastal belt of Balochistan and Gwadar in particular.
The process of conversion of the Pak Oman into a public limited company has been successfully completed, and the Pak Oman now has the distinct honour of being the only joint venture financial institution to have achieved this status.
The Pak Oman's credit rating has been reaffirmed at AA+ (Double A Plus) for medium- to long-term and A1+ (A One Plus) for short-term by the JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited.
The Pak Oman has also been assigned a corporate governance rating of CGR-9 by the JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited. The assigned rating denotes a 'very high level of corporate governance'. The Pak Oman is the first financial institution to get CGR-9 in the first year of rating assessment. This remarkable achievement is the result of the adoption of best practices within the company.-PR