Annual Report 2018/19 Annual Report 2018 / 19
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Annual Report 2018/19 Annual Report 2018 / 19 Saman Bank in 2018/19 4 Statement of the Board and the CEO 7 Key Figures 8 About Saman Bank 10 Corporate Governance 15 Professional Backgrounds of the Senior Executives 16 Independent Auditors and legal Inspector 17 Saman Financial Group 20 The Bank’s Legal Environment 21 Saman Versus Tehran Stock Exchange Saman Bank 22 An Overview of Saman’s Operational and Financial Performance in 2018/19 27 Saman Bank’s Resources and Advances Analyses 30 Major Achievements of the Bank in Different Areas 45 Human Capital 50 Chart of Organization 51 Major Accolades and Achievements of Saman Bank 2018/19 52 Plans and Projects for 2019/20 53 Financial Report 54 Independent Auditors and Legal Inspectors Reports 58 Group Consolidated Financial Statements 64 Saman Bank (PJSC) Financial Statements 71 Explanatory Notes 2 Annual Report 3 Amidst the diverse challenges posed by sanctions with regard to maintaining and developing correspondent banking relations, Saman’s international banking efforts yielded more favourable results in 2018/19 than in the previous year, translating to 47percent growth in the volume of our international operations. Furthermore, the cost price of money in Saman reduced from 15.3percent to 13.4percent and revenue from lending increased from the effective rate of 15.5percent to 17.4percent. Alongside these achievements, we enhanced operational efficiency in cost management and profitability. In order to advance the policies under the Saman 2021 Strategic Plan, we sought to prepare technical and procedural infrastructure and to enable our staff members to improve the quality and quantity of their services. The new performance-assessment model introduced in 2018/19 has considerably improved the performance of our staff and the operational procedures of the bank. Investments Another major achievement in 2018/19 concerned Saman’s investments. Saman Electronic Payment Company (SEP) was admitted to the Tehran Stock Exchange and was well-received in the market. Thus, Saman registered a good added value as the outcome of 15 years of investment in this company. We closely monitor the megatrends in digital, banking, and payment industries and have adopted two approaches: First, we sponsor start-ups in fintech, investing in Tap30 and Mobillet and continuing to invest in Samantel. Second, we launched investments in four start-ups active in blockchain, fintech, commercial intelligence, and payment services through SEP. We expect our investments in SEP—which all align with current and future trends in the banking industry—will bring about considerable added value for the bank and for Saman Group in the near future. Research-based Planning All of our plans and initiatives are based on research efforts and studies that seek to reduce our operational and decision-making risks in the future. In addition to its training and education mission, two years ago Saman Statement of the Board and the CEO Academy of Banking began macroeconomic research and analysis, which form the basis of our economic forecasting based on trends in international, national currency, and credit sectors. For example, macroeconomic reports of Saman Academy helped us adopt proper decisions in our international policies and earn a substantial income from foreign exchange operations by accurately forecasting exchange rates. By the end of the financial year 2018/19, Saman celebrated its 20th year of proud business in the Iranian economy. Capital Increase These 20 years were filled with invaluable experiences and countless achievements and innovations toward Higher exchange rates meant a considerable number of our customers active in production and business sectors facilitating a new style of banking in our beloved Iran. faced huge difficulties in securing cash reserve and revolving cash. If the bank failed to support them in this As the first privately owned financial-credit institute in the Country, Saman has introduced diverse concepts in difficult time, they would likely leave the bank or enter into stagnation. In order to adapt to these new conditions banking and economy since its inception. By introducing advanced technologies and electronic payment facilities, and accommodate our customer’s needs, we started a capital increase journey. During 2018/19, we adopted Saman successfully added smart solutions to people’s businesses and their banking experience. policies to pave the way for capital increase in 2019/20. The Board intends to accomplish this capital increase before the end of financial year 2019/20. Our first and second strategic plans—based on the three principles of Convenience, Speed, and Trust enabled us to revolutionise our procedures and servicing standards, thereby enhancing customer loyalty. These policies Supporting Production brought us close to our important goal of ‘becoming the first-choice bank for customers’, and we were chosen as the most ‘beloved bank in Iran’ by a public vote of more than 60 thousand participants in 2018/19 as in the previous We adopted our support programs to encourage production under two strategic approaches. First, we increased year. our lending to the production sector by 40 percent compared with the previous year. We intend to increase lending capability by increasing the bank’s capital while boosting the velocity of money through lending to the production 2018/19, A Turning Point for Saman and consumption chains in food and pharmaceutical industries, which are the two focal industries of Saman’s business banking. The financial year 2018/19 is considered a turning point in the 20-year history of Saman Bank. As a result of the positive changes in the Iranian economic environment that started in 2017/18, and in view of the new approach of On the other hand, by designing new credit products, for the staff members of these producing companies, we are the Central Bank of Iran, we turned the challenges caused by the re-imposition of sanctions and the US withdrawal taking serious steps towards the preserving and incising their motivations and we hope these entities with less of the JCPOA into opportunities for growth. This was made possible because of the existing infrastructures and worries in their human recourses affairs, they would have more concentrations on production. capabilities. First Choice in International Banking In another important turning point during this year, we made the first phase of our new strategic plan, named Saman 2021, operational and have already experienced its positive outcomes. Under our strategy of becoming the first-choice partner for international banks, we continue to strengthen our international presence and expand our correspondent banking relations through full compliance with international Profitability in International Banking and Retail Banking standards. In spite of the re-imposition of sanctions, we preserved our representative office in Italy, which improved our extensive and constructive interactions with the Italian central bank. We continue to follow-up our One of our main programs in Saman 2021 has been to continue the optimisation and simplification of internal application for opening our branch in Germany, and we hope to open this branch in the near future. methods and procedures to enhance operational efficiency. By relying on past experiences and regular customer surveys and by employing experienced international advisors, we advantageously increased service and product sales and reduced operational and executive costs, as reflected in the 2018/19 financial statements showing increased joint revenues (from lending) of 31percent and reduced costs in spite of inflation rates exceeding 27percent. 4 Annual Report 5 Risk Management One of the dynamic and active pillars of Saman is the risk committee and risk management unit, which is responsible for managing, controlling, and reducing the three major risks in the bank. These are as follows: • Credit risk: New infrastructures created in 2019/20 to ensure credit rating of all loan applicants, whether in retail or corporate banking. Our credit-rating system has been implemented with the help of a German company, Scope Group. This system will be used in Iran, as well as in our branch in Germany. Consequently, Saman’s NPLs ratio continues to decrease, even in the current economic climate in Iran. • Liquidity risk: We have controlled liquidity to an effective—but not excessively low—level and reduced the cost price of resources from 15.3 percent to 13.4 percent. Our Asset and Liability Committee has gained invaluable experiences in this area during its 8 years of activity. Fortunately, Saman’s account with the Central Bank has never been in debit, and Saman plays an active role in the interbank market as net lander. • Market risk: Currency exchange rate risk serves as the main component of this section. We strive to abide by CBI regulations and maintain a limited and controlled open position. Anti-Money-Laundering and Compliance of Highest International Standards Saman takes great pride in adhering faithfully to standards of international banking relations; therefore, anti-money-laundering and compliance are major priorities for us. In addition to maintaining full compliance with all national rules and regulations, Saman has benefited the advice of a competent international consultant to review and optimise operational methods for the past 18 months and has obtained an international certificate for the improvement of operational methods and procedures. Saman is successfully implementing the highest international standards in all staff and line units, creating a competitive advantage in international correspondent banking. Key Figures One Saman, One Team The achievements of the Board encapsulated in the Saman 2021 Strategic Plan and those of the bank during 2018/19, would have been impossible without the full cooperation and diligence of our staff. The Board of Directors is grateful to all our colleagues for their wonderful commitment to the bank and to our shareholders whose active (Adjusted) involvement, trust, and support helped make our 21st year a turning point in the history of Saman.