Sonali Bank makes operating profit of Tk2,503cr in 2022

The state-owned Sonali Bank Limited has made a massive operating profit of Tk 2,503 crore in 2022, breaking the previous year’s record of Tk 2,100 crore.

The bank broke its previous records on almost all fronts, including total deposit, deposit-to-loan ratio, net interest, according to data announced on Sunday by the bank’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Md Afzal Karim.

“Sonali Bank has made progress in various indicators even in the midst of the global economic recession,” he said during an exchange meeting with the journalists in the conference room of the bank’s head office about the achievements of the bank in the past year.

“The banking sector of the country is progressing. We hope that the amount of classified loans will come down soon,” he added.

According to Karim, Sonali Bank's deposit-to-loan ratio stood at 60 per cent in 2022, up 9 per cent from 2021.

Currently, the bank’s total loan amount stands at Tk 84,600 crores.

In response to a question, Karim said, “Our capital deficit will soon decrease as profits increase. That is why we are trying to increase the amount of performing loans.”

In the meantime, the bank’s total deposit rose by Tk 6,000 crore from 2021 to Tk 1.41 lakh crore in 2022, the highest in the country.

Afzal Karim said if this huge deposit can be used, the bank will continue to do well in all the indicators in the coming days.

The Sonali Bank CEO also said the bank’s net interest margin in 2022 has been positive.

“All our loans have performed. Interest income has increased. Total net interest is currently standing at Tk 3,769 crore taka, up Tk 1,122 crore more than last year,” he added.

Karim continued that Sonali Bank gave importance to CMSME loans in 2022 while avoiding large loans.

In total, the bank saw an increase of Tk 15,000 crore in loans provided through CMSME and NGO linkage.

Besides, in 2022, Sonali Bank opened LCs of Tk 41,000 crore for food, fertiliser and petroleum. The bank did not suffer any loss from the LCs.

However, Karim said the bank on average earned only Tk 100 as commission from opening government LCs, and sometimes even a nominal Tk 0.4 -0.8.

Sonali Bank has a total of 1229 branches within the country. Besides, there are two branches outside the country in Kolkata and Siliguri, India.

Among others, the bank's Deputy Managing Directors Niranjan Chandra Debnath, Sanchia Binte Ali, Kazi Md Wahidul Islam, Parsuma Alam were also present at the exchange meeting.