PACRA maintains Entity Ratings of First Women Bank Limited.

The ratings primarily reflect strong association of FWBL with the Government of Pakistan (GoP) - the major shareholder - demonstrating continued commitment and support. The bank received capital injections in previous years mainly to comply with minimum capital requirements. The current management team has taken initiatives to augment the revenue stream, while rationalizing the cost structure. The resultant benefit is seen in the bank's financial performance during the ongoing calendar year. Cognizant of the matter, the management targets volumetric growth in deposits and advances, herein, efficient and effective use of the IT system along with synergies are being implemented with other institutions for calibration. The internal control system of the bank has depicted steady improvement. The management had taken various strategic initiates including, improvement of net spread through reducing its funding cost, expansion of retail customer base through launching BDO model, improving lending and trade business through onboarding investment grade rated corporate, highly performing SME business and re-branding corporate image. The management is also bringing efficiency which has had positive performance in the ongoing year. Bank's PAT for CY19 clocked at PKR 247mln (CY18: loss of PKR 246.2mln) which improved equity, which was diluted in previous years due to losses. Covid-19 has posed challenges to the banking sector, as almost all segments of the economy, worldwide and domestically, are getting negatively impacted. The ramifications would continue to unfold, warranting vigilance and timely actions where needed.
The ratings capture the need to sustain a growth trend in profitability and deposits. Revision and successful execution of the business strategy, while improving efficacy of the risk management framework to improve asset quality.

About the Entity
First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) was established in 1989. The bank operates through a network of 42 branches spread over 24 cities nationwide as at Dec-19. The bank focuses on catering to women at all levels of economic activity; micro, SME and corporate. The bank has launched internet banking services during the year. The Government of Pakistan owns a majority stake - ~85% (~83% through Ministry of Finance and ~2% through NBP) in the bank. Rest of the shareholding is with a group of four large banks.

As of end-CY19, FWBL had three members of Board of Directors which included the President and 2 NEDs. Currently, several positions are vacant after retirement of Independent Directors in Jan19. The President is directly appointed by MoF. Ms. Naushaba Shahzad, the (Acting) President since Oct-18, is a veteran banking professional having 30 years of diversified experience. The top management comprises experienced members, some of them recently engaged.