HBL’s pre-tax profit rises 22%

KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) posted a 22 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to Rs36.6 billion for the quarter ended 31 March 2025, supported by deposit growth and higher lending.

Profit after tax rose 11 per cent to Rs16.6 billion, despite a higher tax rate on the banking sector. Earnings per share improved to Rs11.32 from Rs10.37 a year earlier. The bank announced an interim dividend of Rs4.5 per share.

HBL’s balance sheet expanded to Rs5.9 trillion, while total deposits reached Rs4.4 trillion. Domestic deposits rose to Rs3.7 trillion, driven by a Rs127 billion increase in current accounts, pushing the mix to 40 per cent Net interest income climbed 12 per cent year-on-year to Rs68.8 billion, while non-fund income rose to Rs21.6 billion, helped by treasury operations and strong fee growth from cards and bancassurance. Total revenue grew to Rs90.4 billion.

Cost control efforts limited expense growth to seven per cent, improving the cost-to-income ratio by 200 basis points (bps) to 55.6 per cent. The Tier-1 capital adequacy ratio improved to 14.51 per cent from 14.27 per cent, while total CAR rose to 17.88 per cent. CEO Muhammad Nassir Salim said HBL’s strategy remained focused on agriculture, SMEs, digital services and sustainability to drive long-term growth.