Sonali bank announces record-breaking operating profit Tk2,205 cr for 2021

Sonali Bank Limited has made a record-breaking operating profit of Tk2,205 crore in the year 2021.

Previously, the bank earned an operating profit of Tk2,153 crore in 2020.

According to the data of the bank, the classified loan of the bank also came down to 14.14% at the end of 2021, 4.23% less than the previous year, reads a press release.

Addressing reporters at his office, Bank's Managing Director CEO and Managing Director Md Ataur Rahman Prodhan said that his main objective is to bring the classified loan to single digit by end of year 2022.

"We have been working hard even in the pandemic to reduce the burden of the classified loan and we have succeeded to some extent. If all our plans work well, we will be able to reduce it to a single digit by end of this year," he said.

The bank's data provided also shows that the loans and advances of the bank has also increased to Tk69,317 crore, up by Tk10,694 crore than in the previous year.

The bank's deposits jumped into some Tk134,307 crore, highest deposit among all banks in the country, he added.

The bank has attained a satisfactory operating profit in the outgoing year amid a slower growth both in foreign trade as well as in private sector credit due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the bank's chairman Ziaul Hasain Siddiqui said, adding that Sonali Bank's achievement is the output of the efforts of its hardworking officers and employees' working in the field level across the country.

The number of loss branches has also come down to 16 at the end of 2021, 13 less than previous year. The bank data also confirms that Sonali Bank's advances to deposit ratio is 51.61 at the end of 2021, it was 46.57 in the previous year.

The bank has 1227 branches across the country, besides it has more two overseas branches-one in Kolkata and another in Siliguri in India.

Moreover, the bank's subsidiary company, Sonali Exchange Company Incorporated also made a profit of $1 million in the last year.