Kathmandu, November 14:

Nepal Investment Bank Ltd (NIBL) has decided to distribute cash dividend of 20 per cent and issue 35.46 per cent bonus shares to its shareholders from the profit it made during the fiscal year 2005-06, announced Prithvi Bahadur Pande, chairman and chief executive director of NIBL, while presenting the annual report and balance sheet of the bank for the fiscal year 2005-06 at its 20th annual general meeting (AGM) held in the capital today.

According to the annual report, the bank posted net profit of Rs 350 million, up by 51.1 per cent from Rs 232.1 million in the previous fiscal year. The bank has also increased its deposits by 32.79 per cent to Rs 18,927 million from Rs 14,254 million last year. During the same period, loans and advances of NIBL grew from Rs 10,453 million to Rs 13,178 million.

Pande, on the occasion, said that the bank has been aggressive in expanding its branch networks and services throughout the country. “14 branches have been opened so far,” he said adding that the bank also enjoys leading role in terms of diversifying banking products as well as electronic deliveries.

NIBL has issued over 45,000 Visa Electron Debit cards and deployed 600 point of sales (PoS) terminals all over Nepal. The bank has introduced a couple of new products like ‘Social Deposit Account’ — which is targeted at NGOs or INGOs that have been working for the betterment of society — to mark its 20th anniversary.

The bank will contribute 50 per cent of earnings generated from such accounts to the respective NGOs or INGOs.

According to Pande, NIBL has introduced a new recurring saving deposit account ‘Parivar Bachat Khata’ for people with a small and minimal disposable income that finally cumulates to a lump sum at the time of maturity. The bank has launched yet another customer friendly product ‘NIBL E-Zee Visa Prepaid Card’. The key feature of the card is that a customer needs no account and the card can be availed instantly through any branch, which is acceptable across all Visa ATMs and PoS terminals.

As a part of its corporate social responsibility, NIBL has contributed Rs 640,000 to the United Nations High Commission for Refugee — UNHCR’s Nepal programme to support the primary education needs of the refugee Bhutanese students.

The bank has also entered into an agreement with Friends Club, Kupondole to promote and support football.