KARACHI, April 28: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) will soon open its branches in Saudi Arabia and India, said NBP President Syed Ali Raza.

Addressing the 57th annual general meeting of the bank here on Thursday, the NBP president reiterated his objective to make the bank a premier financial supermarket of the country as well as a key regional bank with a strong franchise in Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.

He termed the performances and achievements of the bank as landmark in the history of banking industry in the country and said that 2005 was a profitable year for the bank as its after-tax profit doubled compared to 2004.

The bank’s pre-tax profit in 2005 was Rs19 billion, an increase of 58pc over last year. Earning per share jumped by over 100pc from Rs10.48 to Rs21.51 in 2005, he added.

He said all key performance indicators registered an impressive growth. Pre-tax return on equity stood at 62pc, pre-tax return on assets further improved to 3.4pc from 2.4pc of the last year while cost to income ratio of 0.34 remained in the top tier.

Dividend income and capital gains made a healthy contribution as these increased by Rs445 million and Rs700 million respectively.

He pointed out that the NBP declared a cash dividend of Rs2.50 per share and bonus at 20pc for the shareholders.

The meeting approved the accounts.—APP