Bank of Maldives (BML) CEO and Managing Director Tim Sawyer has revealed that the bank paid MVR 543 million in taxes and another MVR 131 million in dividends in 2021.
While addressing the financial performance of BML, Tim noted that the profits increased in 2021 over 470 percent to MVR1.9 billion, after tax deduction. Banks must pay 25 percent of the profits as Bank Profit Tax to the state. In 2019, the bank had paid MVR423 million in taxes to the state, indicating an MVR251 million increase in 2021.
“I would argue the bank is in the strongest position it has even been. Profits are good, the balance sheet is strong, bad debts are under control, the moratorium effects are unwinding, digitization is proceeding apace and customer service is slowly starting to improve,” Mr. Sawyer further added regarding the bank’s overall sound performance in 2021.
“We now have a set of new strategic pillars – Financial Stability, Operational Excellence and Customer Experience – and goals that we have committed to achieve in the next three years,” he added.
Speaking about the resilient performance of the bank, Mr. Sawyer also noted that the bank’s profits stood at MVR 544 million for the first quarter of 2022, indicating over 55 percent increase from previous year.