NBP maintains profit growth profit up by 11

KARACHI: Meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) of National Bank of Pakistan (bank) was held today (Thursday) at Bank’s Head Office in Karachi in which the BoD approved the financial statements of the bank for the nine months period ended September 30, 2016.Bank’s after-tax profit for the nine months period increased by 11 percent to Rs. 13.4billion compared to Rs. 12.1 billion for the corresponding nine months of 2015. This translates into earnings per share of Rs.6.3 i.e. 11pc up against Rs. 5.7 for the comparative period last year.Pre-tax and after-tax return on equity were 26.4pc, and 15.5pc (September2015: 26.2pc and 14.5pc) respectively; whereas the pre-tax and after tax return on assets are 1.7pc and 1.0pc respectively.Despite a continued reduction in the discount rate during recent quarters, bank’s net interest income increased by 4.3pc YoY to Rs. 39.3 billion against Rs. 37.6 billion for nine months of 2015.Specific provision charge for the period was Rs. 1.9 billion, 76pc lower than Rs. 8.2 billion for the corresponding nine month period of 2015. This depicts an improvement in the assets quality of the bank. During the period, the bank earned a fee/commission income of Rs. 9.96 billion being 20.4pc up against Rs. 8.3 billion for the comparative nine months period of 2015.