KARACHI: The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) recorded a pre-tax profit of Rs17.16 billion in the six-month period of the ongoing calendar year, 26% higher than Rs13.61 billion in the same period of the previous year, according to profit-and-loss accounts sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).
Profit after tax amounted to Rs12.49 billion for the January-June period of 2018, up significantly by 46.1% compared with Rs8.55 billion earned in the same period of the previous year. Accordingly, earnings per share (EPS) clocked in at Rs5.87 for the six-month period of 2018, against Rs4.02 for the corresponding period of 2017.
On a quarterly basis, NBP recorded earnings of Rs7.6 billion during April-June, up 74.7% from Rs4.35 billion in the same three-month period of 2017. EPS for the 2018 quarter stood at Rs3.57 against Rs2.05 for the same three-month period of the previous year.
The financial accounts were approved in a meeting of the board of directors held at the bank’s head office in Karachi. A cash dividend was not recommended by the board.
The announcement was seen as a positive by investors at the PSX, with Topline Securities’ analyst Umair Naseer saying that the earnings were higher than market expectations.
“NBP announced earnings of Rs3.6/share, up 73% year-on-year which was also higher than market expectations,” said Naseer in a note to clients after the results. “Profit before tax was up 36% as effective tax rate during 2Q2018 stood at 21% versus 38% in 2Q2017 mainly due to tax reversals, we believe.”
The bank’s share price increased Rs0.81 on Thursday, closing at Rs52.14 with 7.1 million shares changing hands. The increase came on a day when the KSE-100 Index shed 0.91%.
NBP’s net interest/mark-up income increased by 15.7% to Rs31.14 billion against Rs26.05 billion for the corresponding period of 2017. This was achieved through an efficient asset-mix of high-yield loans and investments. The bank has recently introduced changes in its operating structure for better service quality in order to enhance customer loyalty. Income from dividend and capital gains, however, recorded a drop due to the lacklustre performance of the stock market that has seen a bearish run in the last year.
Overall non mark-up/interest income for the period amounted to Rs15.25 billion which is marginally lower by 2.7% compared to Rs15.68 billion for the corresponding period last year.
With a 12.1% growth by reference to December 31, 2017, the balance sheet size of NBP increased to Rs266 billion. As of June 2018, its deposits amounted to Rs1.91 trillion, 10.6% higher compared to the amount as of December 31, 2017. The net advances also increased to Rs790.4 billion, an increase of 6.8% when compared to December, 2017.
