DIB plans 30 more Pakistan branches

Dubai Islamic Bank's subsidiary in Pakistan has embarked on a huge expansion drive with plans to open 30 branches there next year, almost double its existing number. The bank announced a pre-tax profit of 280 million Pakistani rupees (Dh12.1m) for the first nine months of this year, up 207 per cent over the same period last year, Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan said yesterday. It recently opened 10 branches in Pakistan to bring its network to a total of 35 across 15 major cities.

"We are one of the few banks whose performance has been on an upward trend since 2008," said MA Mannan, the bank's chief executive. "The bank expects to post a profit on a full-year basis and will open an additional 30 new branches in 2010." The bank was also focusing on innovation by offering products such as branchless banking and SMS banking, he said. The bank, which started operations in Pakistan in 2006, offers Sharia-compliant products and services to institutions, small and medium-sized businesses and individuals. It has an asset base of 32 billion rupees and deposits of more than 25bn rupees.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) is the largest bank in the UAE, operating 61 branches in the country. It said it planned to add three branches before the end of the year. It also hopes to launch "express banking centres" to serve customers at hypermarkets and shopping malls. DIB aims to have increased its customer base by 15 per cent to about 900,000 by the end of this year, while it hopes to have built its retail business by 20 per cent for the year.

In addition to operating a representative office in Turkey, DIB has also been given a preliminary banking licence by the central bank of Jordan to operate in the country as an Islamic financial institution. @Email:[e-mail]