Study and Comparison of Islamic Bank Performance Finance Essay

Islamic banking in Pakistan started around not more than three decades ago with an program to eliminate interest from specialized institutions and commercial banks in 1977-78, but serious efforts have been made only recently when in January 2000, State Bank of Pakistan constituted a Commission for Transformation of Financial System (CTFS) to introduce Shari'ah compliant modes of financing, and, on 15 September 2003, when the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)established the Islamic Banking Department. As a result of these serious efforts, Islamic banking is now playing an important role in financing and contributing to different economic and social sectors in the country in compliance with the principles of Islamic Shari'ah. Islamic banks in Pakistan currently amount to only six in number and majority of these Islamic banks started their operations only recently except Meezan Bank Limited, which has been in operation for around a decade now. On the contrary, conventional commercial banks in Pakistan are comparatively very large in both, size and number, and majority of them have been operating for decades. Currently, Conventional Commercial Banks in Pakistan heavily outperform the Islamic banks in terms of market share and profitability figures, but analyzing figures of growth rates in factors such as market share, asset base and profits, Islamic banks have been following steep graphs lately. The paper that follows is an attempt to analyze various measures and figures showing that Islamic banks have great potential and a promising future in the country's bank industry. The paper also throws light on the measurement technique, ROE (return on equity) and the economic concept of "the market for lemons (George Akerlof)", which tend to undermine the performance of Islamic Banks in the industry. Many studies can be found on the performance of Islamic and commercial banks taken apart, but no substantial research on comparative analysis of both can be detected in the literature on banking as such. Economic development and financial sector development are linked and inter related with one another. Efficient financial sector and functioning plays an important role in the stage of growth of the economy as well as in containing and improving the living standard of its population. Banking system in an economy operates just like blood circulatory system in a body. Just as an efficient blood circulation system ensures healthy body, an equitable banking system ensures economic efficiency and corporate strength. Pakistan has quite a sound and well established banking industry consisting of both Islamic and commercial banks. Commercial Banking dates to almost as far back in time as the country itself. Islamic banking, on the contrary, is only a recent phenomenon. Moreover, commercial banks greatly outnumber Islamic banks. This is why both extensive and intensive studies have been enormously carried out on commercial banks while Islamic banking lags far behind that level of research literature. The focus of this paper, therefore, is going to be primarily more on Islamic Banking and its performance. Rising competition, liberalization, consolidation across banks, globalization, and continuous innovation to establish Islamic financial services have resulted in detailed studies and critical evaluation of financial performance of Islamic banks in recent years. Performance evaluation of banks is not only important for depositors and investors but also for bank managers and regulatory bodies. Depositors and investors make decisions of whether to invest or withdraw in a bank based on their interpretation of the banks' performance measures. This is even more so in case of Islamic banks where depositors are not entitled to fixed returns and have unguaranteed nominal values of their deposits. Similarly, managers are keen to judge outcomes of management decisions and need to evaluate performance of their loan service or deposit service to improve their finance system. In competitive financial markets performance, hence, holds utmost importance for both the bank and the customers. Aim:- The paper aims to see through the performance of Islamic banking in comparison to conventional banking in the country. Financial ratios have been used to measure and compare Islamic bank and conventional banks performances in the profitability, liquidity, risk & solvency, and efficiency. T-test and F-test are used to determine the significance of the results. For in depth research, Meezan Bank has been initially studied for the overall representation of Islamic Banks against commercial banks. Data and Financial statements of Meezan Bank, over the years are easily available. Scope of the paper:- The paper studies 5 big ones out of the total of 35 commercial banks in Pakistan, which, on the whole, is quite enough to provide substantial room to generalize results. On the Islamic side, there are six full-fledged Islamic banks in the Industry; five are private banks and one is a foreign bank. Amongst them, Meezan Bank Limited (MBL) is the only old, somewhat big and experienced domestic and private Islamic bank in Pakistan operating last for more than six years. Almost all of rest of the Islamic banks in the country started their operations only recently except Albaraka Islamic Bank (AIB) which is a foreign bank operating in the country as branches of AlBaraka Islamic Bank Bahrain since 1991 (Source: AIB). Being a foreign bank, we did not select AIB as Islamic bank for our study because the study is aimed at comparing performance of conventional banks against Islamic banks in Pakistan's banking Industry. Also, AIB has been overlooked because it is very small in size. We had an open and wide range of conventional banks to from a group for the paper but data availability, time limitations, and other reasons restricted us to the selection of only 5 conventional banks to compare financial performance with Islamic bank (MBL). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The paper mainly uses secondary method of research to go about proving its point. Research can be broken down into following steps. Finance courses: Finance Concepts learnt in finance courses taken here in university, form the basis of how I have initially approached the topic. Banks Financial Statements: To further analyze and explain the stance taken in the topic, the basic method of research is to gather data and trends shown by the banking industry by studying and cross comparing Annual Financial Statements of various commercial and Islamic banks. In this process, financial statements of Big 5 commercial Banks i.e., MCB Bank LimitedA (owned byA Mian Mohammad Mansha), National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Limited and United Bank Limited have been analyzed and their trends of growth rates over the years have been scrutinized. For Islamic banking side, Meezan Bank, the largest and the oldest of all, has been mainly targeted for financial statement analysis, along with other Islamic banks like Emirates Global Islamic Bank Limited and BankIslami Pakistan Limited. Financial statements can easily be found on the internet or any of the banks' branches. Internet: To find data in compiled and shaped out form, internet is a very handy tool. Browsing data on the internet forms an integral part of the research process. Publications: "Performance of Islamic Banking and Conventional Banking in Pakistan: A Comparative Study" By Muhammad Shehzad Moin, University of Skövde, is the main reference paper for my report. Other related reference papers from libraries and book shops havel also been searched, studied and properly cited. Finance Experts interviews: Further, gathering direct views and opinions by interviewing professors and practitioners in the finance field is another method that has been employed for the report. Dr. Mohammad Basharullah, visiting Faculty, Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management (LUMS) and Mr. Aneel Iqbal, ACCA, CA, CFA, CMA (silver medalist) were interviewed to enlighten the paper with their thoughts on the comparison between performance of Islamic and commercial banks. State Banks Papers: Also, State Bank of Pakistan's publications on Islamic banks performance have been studied and compared against those on commercial banks performance. https://www.sbp.org.pk/departments/Publications.htm is the link to the page that features all publications on Islamic Banks performance on the State Bank's Official Website. The main paper studied in regard for our purpose is "Pakistan's Islamic Banking Sector Review" that is available on the above mentioned link. Furthermore, relevant publications have been selected and read from this list of publications on the web link https://www.sbp.org.pk/publications/index2.asp. Learning concepts: For the purpose of the paper, the concepts of profitability ratios - Reurn on Equity (ROE), Return on assets (ROA), Profit to Expenses Ratio (PER), and liquidity ratios - Loan to deposit ratio (LDR), Cash & Portfolio Investment to Deposit Ratio (CPIDR) have been thoroughly gripped. RISK AND SOLVENCY RATIOS and EFFICIENCY RATIOS have been covered to derive empirical results. Furthermore, "the market for lemons (George Akerlof)" will be deeply scrutinized. Different books and papers on these concepts have been studied to build hold on these concepts. These concepts have then been applied and studied in relevance to the case of Islamic banks performance. The paper explains how these factors tend to undermine the performance of Islamic banks.

Introduction to Islamic banking..

Islamic Banks aim to provide banking services that are in accordance with Islamic Principles and Shariah within the complete Islamic financial system, which in turn aims to bring the most benefit to society in terms of equity and prosperity, rather than focusing solely on creating maximum returns on capital (Zaheer and Hassan, 2001: 158). Islamic banking has been defined as banking in consonance with the ethos and value system of Islam and governed, in addition to the conventional good governance and risk management rules, by the principles laid down by Islamic Shari'ah. Interest free banking is a narrow concept denoting a number of banking instruments or operations, which avoid interest. Islamic banking, the more general term is expected not only to avoid interestbased transactions, prohibited in the Islamic Shari'ah, but also to avoid unethical practices and participate actively in achieving the goals and objectives of an Islamic Economy (Source: SBP). Islamic banking is the system of banking consistent with principles of Islamic law (Shari'ah) and guided by Islamic economics. Islamic economics is referred to that body of knowledge which helps realize human well-being through an allocation and distribution of scarce resources that is in conformity with Islamic teachings without unduly curbing individual freedom or creating continued macroeconomic and ecological imbalances (Chapra 1996). A key element of Islamic economics is distribution of equitable rewards to the different factors of production. Islamic economic system seeks system of Redistributive justice where concentration of wealth in a few hands is countered and flow of money into the economy is fluent. Islamic banking is, therefore, seen as a lynchpin to achieving the economic and social goals of the Islamic economic system. (Source: Bank Alfalah). Islamic banks aim to achieve the socio-economic goals of the Islamic religion which are reaching full-employment, a high rate of economic growth, equitable distribution of wealth and income, socioeconomic justice, smooth mobilization of investments and savings while ensuring a fair return for all parties and finally emphasize the stability of money value (Hassan and Mervyn, 2007 Chapra, 1995). For both, commercial and Islamic banks, the basic concepts and objectives hold common. All they differ in is the methodology employed to go about fulfilling those objectives. To be very simple, conventional banking aims to meet these objectives through use of interest- based contracts (Riba) while Islamic banking achieves the same through trade-based contracts. The former is strictly forbidden under the very fundamentals of Islam. "But Allah has permitted trading, and prohibited Riba" Qura'n Islamic Banking was actually demanded to implement the divine instructions on all transactions specifically those involving exchange of Money for Money. But, here it is noteworthy to mention that it will be a total injustice to bind Islamic Banking to the eradication of RIBA only. Riba is one of the most undesirable elements in an economic transaction. Qimar (speculation) and Gharar (risk or uncertainty) are the others. While removal of these objectionable aspects is one of the very critical aims of Islamic banking, it is by no means its ultimate objective. "And that which you give in gift (loan) (to others), in order that it may increase (your wealth by expecting to get a better one in return) from other people's property, has no increase with Allâh; but that which you give in Zakât (sadaqa - charity etc.) seeking Allâh's Countenance, then those, they shall have manifold increase." Sura Ar-Rum (30:39)." "That they took riba (usury), though they were forbidden and that they devoured men'ssubstance wrongfully - We have prepared for those among men who reject faith agrievous punishment. Sura An-Nisa (4:161)." In Muslim societies, limited banking activity can be traced goes back to the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Just like all other Islamic teachings, the origin of Islamic finance dates back to the era of The Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW). The Qur'an and the example of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) provide the model and feature the foundation of Islamic fundamentals to over one billion Muslims round the globe. The Holy Prophet (SAW) happened to be a business man serving as a trader for Hazrat Khadija (May Allah Almighty be pleased with Her). The Prophetic example was the very archetype of fair-trade. Ensuring transparency in transactions, refraining from usury, and honesty entitled him the title of Al- Amin (The trustworthy) in pre-Islamic Arabia. At that time people deposited money with the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). For a long time, some circles argued that Islam prohibits excessive interest only or the interest on consumptive loan. Such lame arguing fails to give due understanding to versus 278 & 279 of Surah Albaqra (quoted below); "O ye who believe! Be afraid of Allah and give up what remains (due to you) from Riba (usury) (from now onwards) if you are (really) believers. (2:278)." "And if you do not do it, take notice of war from Allah and His messenger! But if you repent, you shall have your capital sums. (2:279)." All this does not mean that Islam prohibits any gain on principal sums. In Islam, Profit is the standard incentive reward of capital. When capital employed in Halal business yields profit, that profit has rightful and just claim of the owner of the capital over it. As a corollary, the risk of loss also lies exclusively with the owner of the capital and no other factor of production is should be liable to incur it. Another important element of Islamic Principles is that reward or profit can only be claimed in the instance where effort has been expended or risk of loss has been assumed. Profit is therefore received by the provider/owner of the capital and remuneration by labor/manager of the capital. An Investor in an Islamic bank can therefore make earnings on his or her deposit through either return on his capital when that capital is employed in a business venture or sharing of profit when his capital is part of capital that is employed in a partnership Halal Business or through rental earnings on an asset that has been partially financed by his capital.

Difference between conventional and Islamic banking

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Islamic Banking in Pakistan

As early as in 1948, the Quaid e Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, emphasized the virtues of Islamic system of finance and in his address at the inauguration of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), said: "I shall watch with keenness the work of your Organization in evolving banking practices compatible with Islamic ideas of social and economic life. We must work our destiny in our own way and present to the world an economic system based on true Islamic concept of equality of manhood and social justice." Banks in Pakistan share their 95 percent of the financial sector , therefore good health of bank, development of Pakistan and economic growth directly related with one another. Pakistani banking system, which is composed of 50 to 53 banks. 4 specialized banks 6 Islamic banks 6 micro finance banks 7 Developmental financial institutions 30 commercial banks The banking sector in Pakistan is composed of owned and government banks which are 9 in number, private banks are 22, privatized banks are 4, foreign banks are 5, development institutions are 7, non member banks are 4 and 2 are the SME banks which are small and medium enterprises. Of all the total system assets, four largest commercial banks make up 44.2 percent, while eight second tier banks account for a further 35 percent indicating moderate concentration Banks of Pakistan have been all the time involved in fulfilling and catering the needs of government organizations, subsidizing the fiscal deficit, engaging in trade financing, and serving large corporations. SME enterprises, housing sector and agriculture sector which are involved in improving growth and employment in Pakistan were deprived of lending. Moreover, financial system in Pakistan was also affected and under the influence of politics. There was utmost political intervention in lending decisions and in the appointment of managers. Over the last 15 years, the privatization of public sector banks , the entrance of private banks and the tightening of prudential regulations have changed the Pakistani banking system. Currently, private sector is controlling nearly 80 percent of the system assets, as opposed to the early 1990s when it (share) was only 10% however government at that time were controlling 90% of the system assets. Moreover, total financial assets have reached 175$ billion which constitute 110% of GDP. The banking system shares 40% of total stock market capitalization and amounts to 95% of the total assets of financial institutions. Deposit base has reached to $60 billion and advancing to $47 billion. However growing financial intermediation has played an important role towards banks aggregate profitability to take to $1.8 billion. Of the entire total paid up capital of all the financial institutions regulated by the state bank of Pakistan, currently foreign stake comes to 47% of it. Islamic banking which was started in 1977-78 in Pakistan, which introduce new laws, included in the removal and elimination of interest from the operation of specialized institution and commercial banks. There were some amendments were made in the financial system as well as in the corporate sector to allow the issuance of new interest- free instrument of corporate financingnamed, PTC Participation Term certificate. Just at the same time, Ordinance was introduced to permit the establishment of mudarba companies and flotation of Mudarba certificates, with the aim of rising risk based capital. On july 1st, 1948 the pak rupee were made interest free from all the commercial banks. In January 2000. In the state bank of Pakistan, a commission for transforming financial system (CTFS) was constituted to introduce Shariah compliant modes of financing. CTFS was held responsible primarily for creating legal infrastructure conducive for working of Islamic financial system, introducing a good education and training programs for their clients and bankers, and to create awareness for the general public for the Islamic financial system and also to teach them how to deal with major products of banks and financial institutions both for assets and liabilities side. In September 2001, Government of Pakistan decided to make jumped to an idea of interest free economy in a gradual and phased manner without causing any disruptions. It was also the part of the decision that state bank will be considering for establishing subsidiaries by the commercial banks for the aim of carrying out shariah compliant transaction. Specifying branhes by the commercial banks exclusively dealing in Islamic products and, creating new full fleged commercial banks to carry out utterly banking business based on proposed Islamic financial products. On 15th of September 2003, the state bank of Pakistan SBP introduce the Islamic banking department with the vision of to promote and regulate Islamic banking industry in line with best international practices ensuring shariah compliances and transparency and with the aim of making Islamic banking the first preference for the 15 providers and users of financial services. In January 2002, Meezan bank Limited was granted first ISLAMIC BANKING LICENSE by the State bank of Pakistan. Their major task is to promote and develop the shariah compliant Islamic banking as a compatible banking system in the country. That organization is composed of three division: policy division, business support division and shariah compliance division. A shariah borad consists of experts to guide the Islamic banking industry is also in place at SBP. Prudential regulation, risk management , corporate governance and accounting & shariah standards etc.. are the major areas SBP is working on to regulate and supervise the Islamic banking sector. Presently, Islamic banking sector is working under the existing laws. Currently there are six full-fleged Islamic banks operationg in Pakistan. These banks with their year of incorporation are: Bankislami Pakistan limited (2003) Albaraka Islamic bank Pakistan (1991) Dubai Islamic bank Pakistan limited(2005) Meezan bank limited (2002- restricted as Islamic bank) Emirates global Islamic bank limited (2007) Dawood Islamic bank limited (2007) Among the banks listed above. ALBARAKA Islamic bank is the only foreign bank working in Pakistan, while meezan bank has the honor of being the first domestic commercial bank offered full fleged Islamic banking license by SBP in januray 2002. However in the overall banking system the market share of Islamic banking assets rise up to 4.3% as of December 31, 2007 compared with 3.0% in preceding year. Islamic banking deposits, financing and investment stood at 4.1%, 4.3% and 2.6% respectively as compared to 2.7%. 2.88% and 0.94% a year earlier. Year on year (yoy) growth for total assets, deposits and financing and investment was 75%, 78%, 91% respectively. Branch network during the same period reached 289 from 150 branches, showing 93% increase in year 2007.its expected that by the end of this financial year the share of assets of Islamic banking to overall industry widd cross 5.0%. we can say that Islamic banking industry is growing with good signs of financial inculsion. Meezan bank is leading all the Islamic banks while among the IBDS of conventional banks, bank alfalah is on the top. GROWTH OF ISLAMIC BAKNING

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RATIOS ANALYSIS The study is intended to be a comparative financial performance of Islamic banking in comparison with conservative banking in Pakistan. Basically the comparison is between the Meezan bank limited (Islamic bank), with the recital of five conventional banks.In today's world where there is a great spirited financial market, one can justly understand the banks performance in any regard by the analysis of the inter banks comparison. Therefore in this study the balance sheets and income statements for two set of banks have been considered and the data is collected and compiled from it. Inter-bank analysis is one of the best types to be used while doing a study on banks. There have been many ways and methods by different financial theorists to measure the bank's performances more accurately. However the ratios have proven to show more precise results and they are therefore more vastly and commonly used for the analysis. For instance, many of the bank regulators's (Sabbi - 1996), (Spindler -1991) have been using different ratios. For this study, in order to analyze how the Islamic banks perform in accordance with the other set of five conventional banks, the ratios method is to be used. For a detailed study, 12 financial performance ratios have been considered. For convenience these ratios have been divided into their main categories as follows: MAKE A TABLE 1) Profitability ratios 2) Liquidity ratios 3) Risk and solvency ratios 4) Efficiency ratios. There are five conventional banks to be compared with one Islamic bank so for that reason first ratio of each conventional bank is calculated, and after that the ratios of all the banks are averaged. And in end they are compared with the ratio of the Islamic bank in each individual year.

PROFITIBILTY RATIOS:

The ratios which are meant to give the most accurate results about the performance of a bank are the performance ratios. Usually if they are high in accordance with the previous ratios, the previous year, the banks in competition and the industry, they reflect betterment in performance of the bank in the related period. More often the profit is the difference of the revenues and expenses and this is the most crucial aspect for any firm to analyze. These ratios help in calculating the profits while keeping in mind the entire cost including income taxes, shareholders equity, and other expenses. To study the comparison of two banks, in the profitability ratio, following criteria is used: Return on assets (ROA), Return on equity (ROE) and profit expense ratio (PER).

Return on assets (ROA):

Return on assets indicates the profitability on the assets of the firm after all expenses and taxes (van Horne 2005).it is all about how well can banks convert all of its assets into a handsome amount of earnings. It is a common measure of managerial performance (Ross, Westerfield, Jaffe 2005).Higher ratio generally shows the better performance and how good the firm has made use of its assets however the lower ratio indicates the poor performance and the low rate of converting the assets into earnings. There are ways of increasing the rate on assets by either increasing the turnover rate or the margin but the few limitations makes it a bit troublesome. One is the tradeoff between the margin and the turn over and the second reason is the great competition. It is however calculated as:

ROA = net profit after tax / total assets

Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Mean S.D Islamic Bank 1.93% 1.14% 1.37% 1.30% 1.43% 1.49% 1.50% 1.49% 0.00296 Conventional Bank 2.18% 1.35% 1.59% 1.47% 1.38% 1.6% 1.58% 1.59% 0.0034 ROA decreased to 1.14%, from 1.93%, and to 2.18% from 1.35% during 2003-2004 for Islamic and conservative banks, respectively. Decline in ROA in 2003-04, conservative banks recovered it in 2004-2005.But the recovery was temporary. Since 2005, conventional banks ROA have constantly decreased. ROA of Islamic bank has been fluctuating as it increased in 2004-05, from 1.14% to 1.37%, but decreased to 1.30% in 2006 and in 2007, it was 1.43% with 0.13% increase. Lately, in 2008 and 2009, trends have remained rather constant. ROA on an average of conventional banks is 1.59% that is higher than average of Islamic banks ROA i.e. 1.49%. 2008 Islamic and conventional banks financial results revealed whether ROA of conservative banks will keep on declining and whether ROA will increase or decrease of Islamic banks. Nevertheless, Pakistan's banking sector is growing but by looking at the 4years trend of ROA both kind of banking has been facing the problem with profitability.

Return on equity (ROE):

This ratio shows the prosperity to shareholders after all the taxes and expenses of the firm. Moreover ROE is net earnings per dollar equity capital (Samad and Hassan 2000). It basically signifies the managerial efficiency. Higher return on assets and debt can be the reasons for the higher rate of return on equity. ROE is always increased by the financial leverage and it is where it differentiates ROE with ROA.Studies have shown that high growth companies have higher ROE. It is thus calculated as:

ROE = net profit after tax / shareholder's equity

TABLE ROE 2003-2009

Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Mean SD Islamic Bank 12.23% 10.69% 13.87% 12.69% 16.88% 16.95% 16.05 14.19% 0.02317 Conventional Bank 29.83% 21.04% 23.60% 19.95% 19.38 % 19.0% 18.35 21.64% 0.04217 The study of ROE of conservative and Islamic banks gives some important points to consider. In 2003-2007 The ROE of conservative banks is higher than that of the Islamic banks. In 2003, difference was large that decreased during 2004-2007. The difference is 17.6% in 2003, this in 2007 has been plummeted to 2.5%. This huge decrease in two ROE's is mostly due to Islamic banks overall trend that is increasing ROE and decrease in conventional banks ROE. This all has given us an important insight. Islamic banks ROE followed conventional banks in terms of decrease and increase during 2003-07. Where as in the years when there is increase in the ROE of the banks, the increase in the ROE of Islamic banks is more than that of the conventional bank (Islamic banks have 30% increase as compared to conventional banks 12% increase in 2003-05), and Islamic banks decrease in ROE has been less than decrease in ROE of conventional banks (Islamic bank has decrease of 8.5% as compared to conventional banks 15% decrease in 2005-06). Islamic banks ROE in 2003 was 12.23% and it increased to 16.05% in 2009. On the other hand, ROE of conventional banks was 29.83% in 2003, decreasing to18.35% in 2009. Financial statements analysis of Islamic banks have shown that overall profits are increased more than Islamic banks equity base that resulted in ROE to increase over time. On the other hand, the group of 5 conventional banks, their equity base increased but their profits base decreased which was the main reason for overall decrease in ROE from 2003-09.

Profit to Expense Ratio:

This ratio shows the degree to which the firm is efficient in the operating activities. A higher PER means bank is cost efficient and is making higher profits (Samad and Hassan 2000).it is calculated as:

PER = profit before tax/ operating expense

Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Mean SD Islamic Bank 0.94% 0.57% 0.88% 0.76% 0.72% 0.76% 0.72% 0.76% 0.155306 Conventional Bank 1.91% 1.30% 1.48% 1.20% 0.82 % 0.81% 0.74% 1.18 % 0.39873 PER is showing that conservative banks are more profitable than Islamic banks in terms of expenses in 2003-09. The study indicates that conservative banks have been generating higher profits consistently for every rupee of expense spent during 2003-09 but with a decreasing trend as compare to Islamic banks. There was decrease in 2003-04 but conventional banks PER increased in 2005, but after that it has been decreasing without any rise. Conventional banks had PER of 1.91 in 2003 but it decreased by 65% and came down to 0.74 in 2009.Conventional banks this decrease is much more deep than of Islamic banks that happened during the same period. In 2007 Islamic bank PER decreased to 0.72 from 0.94 in 2003 which makes it 20% decrease. Further financial statements of the 5 conventional banks were analyzed which included the study that revealed the fact that conventional banks have increased expenses during 2005-09, However, for few other banks there was not such increase in the profit and even for some it decreased, which resulted in the decrease of PER for conventional banks.

LIQUIDITY RATIOS:

The liquidity ratio shows the firm's capacity to convene persistent financial responsibility and obligation. Liquidity is important for the firm to avoid defaulting on its financial obligations and, thus, to avoid experiencing financial distress (Ross, Westerfield, Jeff 2005).It greatly helps the firm to judge its short term obligations, measures its ability in terms of collecting the receivables and also the ways to maintain the cash. Lower liquidity ratio means that the firm has a great capacity to recover its short term obligations and that it has a good range of margin with respect to the safety of the firm. Banks can get into the liquidity problem especially when withdrawal exceeds new deposit significantly over a short period of time (Samad and Hassan 2000).liquidity has certain measures. Following are they: Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR), Cash and Portfolio Investment to Deposit Ratio (CPID), and Loan to Asset Ratio (LAR).

Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR):

This ratio being the most important clarifies the overall liquidity condition of the firm. In Islamic banking system the word "loan" is used differently and in other set of banks with different meaning. They are considered "finances" for the Islamic banks and the conventional banks use it as "advances". The reason for this is the disallowing of using the loans by Islamic system that is (riba).they are also strict in following the Islamic principles. The only way left is however to endow with finances by diverse Islamic financial products. Excessive liquidity, potentially lower profits and the less risk involved are well considered when the LDR is low as compared to other banks that has a higher LDR. So the higher LDR indicates a negative picture of the firm, to have more risk as a result of which the bank may have to sell out few or many loans at a great loss. This ratio is calculated as:

LDR = loan / deposits

Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Mean S.D Islamic Bank 95.36% 89.61% 86.7% 78.47% 63.35% 62.24% 55.16% 75.80% 0.12413 Conventional Bank 73.85% 76.66% 69.9% 76.44% 70.89% 65.23% 64.25% 71.03% 0.03103 High loan to deposit ratio for Islamic bank compared with conventional banks during 2003-2006 indicates that Islamic bank has been comparatively less liquid. However, in 2007, Islamic bank LDR (63.35%) decreased below conventional banks (70.89%) turning Islamic bank into comparatively better liquidity position. LDR of Islamic bank decreased from 95.36% in 2003 to 63.35% in 2007. This overall declining trend in LDR of Islamic bank indicates the tendency of comparatively more increase in deposits than loans (financings) and further emphasizes improved liquidity position of Islamic bank. Compared with Islamic bank, LDR of conventional banks has been reasonably lower and floating between approximately 70% and 77%. Conventional bank LDR was 73.85% in 2003 which decreased to 70.89% in 2007. Although Mean LDR of Islamic bank 82.70% is higher than Mean LDR of conventional banks 73.55% but statistically there is no difference between the two means at 5% level of significance.

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