NBP full-year profit up 1.2 percent

KARACHI: Profit of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) increased 1.2 percent to Rs23.34 billion for the year ended December 31, 2017, translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs10.9, a bourse filing said on Tuesday.

NBP’s profit was Rs23.08 billion with EPS of Rs10.83 in the year ended December 31, 2016. The bank did not announce any payouts as the likely impact of pension case, despite some positive signals, still remains a cause of concern.

A notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) said, “The first priority of the board is to maintain continuity of bank's business, which is very much dependent on the capital base. Board is conscious of the fact that the shareholders look forward to receiving dividend. However, it was considered more prudent to retain the profits for the time being and once the position becomes clearer and positive, the bank may consider declaration of dividend at a later stage.”

Net interest income after provisions stood at Rs55.93 billion, down 0.88 percent from the income of Rs56.4 billion previously.

Analyst Amreen Soorani at JS Global Capital said, “We flag the bank's provisioning expenses under diminution in value of investments during Q4FY17 amounted to Rs644 million, which partially negated impact of Rs1.34 billion reversals under provisioning for loans.”

Non-interest income surged 3.48 percent to Rs32.11 billion for the year 2017 compared with the income of Rs31.03 billion in 2016.

The capital gains during the year declined 23.5 percent to Rs6.5 billion during 2017 as against gains of Rs8.5 billion in 2016.

Analyst Umair Naseer at Topline Securities said, “We anticipate capital gains to remain at these levels given expected interest rate hike and lacklustre equity market performance.”

DG Khan Cement Q2 profit falls to Rs732.82mln

Net profit of DG Khan Cement fell to Rs732.82 million during the quarter ended December 31, 2017, translating into EPS of Rs1.67, a notice to PSX said.

The cement manufacturer’s profit was Rs2.66 billion with an EPS of Rs6.08 posted in the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

Analyst Nabeel Khursheed at Topline Securities said earnings came below consensus estimates mainly due to one-time tax reversal.

“To recall, the company booked huge tax credit availing 65B of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 in first quarter of the fiscal year on account of investment in new cement line in Hub, Balochistan.”

The tax deductions during the quarter stood at Rs1.67 billion compared with deduction of Rs721.65 million previously.

Along with the corporate earnings, DG Khan Cement also announced investing up to Rs850 million to subscribe to 85 million ordinary shares in Hyundai Nishat Motor.

The cement maker will also arrange standby letter of credit of Rs1.0 billion to secure financial assistance to Hyundai Nishat Motor for 7.5 years.

Company’s sales revenues stood at Rs8.9 billion during the quarter ended December 31, 2017, up 3.5 percent from the revenues of Rs8.62 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

For the half year ended December 31, 2017, DG Khan Cement posted a net profit of Rs3.46 billion translating into EPS of Rs7.91 compared with the profit of Rs4.39 billion and EPS of Rs10.02 in the corresponding period the previous year.