United Bank Ltd. today held a conference call on the 3rd Quarter Results at 2:00 PKT. The list of speakers from the UBL included; Chief Financial Officer Mr. Aamer Karachiwala and Financial Controller and Head of Investor Relations Mr. Arif Saifie.
The management briefed listeners on 3rd Quarter performance of the bank, delving into the details of the financial statements.
Laying out the plans for future, the management said the company is reinventing the future aspirations as a company and seeks to gather much larger share of the banking sector in Pakistan. The management said that, UBL is currently under contemplating network expansion, increasing income base from Omni and other non-interest income, and prop up the card penetration.
Responding to a question for the forecasted growth in the coming quarter, the management said that UBL is more than capable to bring growth into double digits in the coming future.
Speaking on the consumer confidence, the management said that despite the instable political landscape, the client behavior continues to remain growth oriented. He further said that, “Political situation has not brought any significant change in the client behavior”. Therefore, the situation is not that worrying in the long term.
Answering a question related to a 24% increase in interest expense from one of the listeners, the management highlighted the increase in the cost of Repo funding.
The management after being asked to comment on the NBP Pensions case that was given in favor of the pensioners, said that “At the current moment, UBL does not anticipate any legal exposure pertaining to the recent NBP Pension Fund decision by the judiciary bodies. However, the management is currently looking into the legality of the issue in order to determine whether the bank is exposed to any of the liabilities mentioned in the verdict.”
