Commercial banks' profit rose 17.57pc in first quarter

KATHMANDU:

The profit of commercial banks increased by 17.57 per cent to Rs 4.98 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal 2014-15, compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal when net profit stood at Rs 4.24 billion.

According to the unaudited financial statements published by the 30 commercial banks, state-owned Rastriya Banijya Bank topped the list of high profit makers in the review period.

Nabil Bank, Nepal Investment Bank, Everest Bank and Standard Chartered Bank rounded up the top five in terms of the amount of profit they made in the review period.

The top five profit makers have 48.37 per cent weightage on the total profit in the banking industry.

Rastriya Banijya Bank posted a profit of Rs 673.82 million, Nabil Bank (Rs 504.86 million), Nepal Investment Bank (Rs 491.32 million), Everest Bank (Rs 391.14 million) and Standard Chartered Bank (Rs 349.77 million) during the review period.

Nepal Bankers’ Association President Rajan Singh Bhandari said that the average profitability of commercial banks is satisfactory despite the increasing level of non-performing loans and regulatory hooks on service charges and interest rate spread.

In terms of profit growth, Nepal Bank secured the top spot. The bank earned a total profit of Rs 269.2 million in the first quarter, nearly 13 times more than its previous year’s profit.

Likewise, Laxmi Bank ranked in second position in terms of profit growth. It made a total profit of Rs 52.33 million during the first three months of this fiscal, which was 10 times higher than it earned in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Next in line were Lumbini Bank, followed by the NCC Bank and Machhapuchhre Bank — all posting high profit growth in the review period.

Janata Bank, which recorded a loss of Rs 59.83 million in the first quarter of the previous fiscal 2013-14, has earned a total profit of Rs 21.36 million this time around.

Five commercial banks, however, booked negative profit growth, namely NB bank, Kumari Bank, Mega Bank, Global IME Bank and Agricultural Development Bank.

The profit of NB bank dropped heavily by Rs 258.74 million in the first quarter of this fiscal against Rs 305.38 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

It was followed by Global IME Bank, as its profit decreased by Rs 35.98 million than the first quarter of the previous fiscal to Rs 222.79 million.

The profit of the Agricultural Development Bank decreased by Rs 22 million to Rs 215.06 million and Mega Bank’s profit dropped by Rs 20.92 million to Rs 80.95 million in the first quarter of this fiscal.

Similarly, Kumari Bank’s profit dropped by Rs 13.63 million in the review period to Rs 32.84 million.

Three of the commercial banks, namely Grand Bank, Prabhu Bank and Civil Bank landed in the red.

Prabhu Bank, Grand Bank and Civil Bank posted loss of Rs 280.63 million, Rs 116.63 million and Rs 9.6 million, respectively.

SOurce: THT